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CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 
Cadmus .... 


PAGE 

. 7 


CHAPTER II. 

Cadmus' Letter . 


. 26 


CHAPTER III. 

Story of jEneas 


. 45 


CHAPTER IV. 




The Destruction op Troy 


. 60 


CHAPTER V. 




The Flight of JEneas 


. 78 


CHAPTER VI. 




The Landing in Latium . 


. 101 


CHAPTER VII. 
Rhea Silvia 


. 120 


CHAPTER VIII. 
The Twins .... 


. 139 


CHAPTER IX. 




The Founding of Rome 


. 158 


CHAPTER X. 




Organization 


. 177 


CHAPTER XI. 
Wives 


. 196 


CHAPTER XII. 




The Sabine War 


. 214 


CHAPTER XIII. 




The Conclusion . 


. 234 



(v) 




Romulus, vi. 



Venus. {Seep. 46*) 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Combat Between iEneas and Achilles, 


Frontispiece. 


Venus . . . 


. 


page vi 


The Glory of Koine Foretold to 


oEneas 


. " X 


Headpiece, Chapter I. . 




." 7 


The Oracle at Delphi . 




facing " 14 


Jupiter and Europa 




. " 19 


Map of Cadmus' Journeys . 




. " 21 


Mars ..... 




. « 25 


Headpiece, Chapter II. 




. " 26 


Emblem of the Deity 




. " 27 


Symbol of Battle 




. " 32 


The Judgment of Paris 




facing " 34 


Egyptian Hieroglyphics 




. " 43 


Headpiece, Chapter III. 




. " 45 


Origin of V en us 




• 47 


^Eneas Defending the Body of Pandarus 


. facing " 52 


Neptune in his Chariot 




. " 59 


Headpiece. Chapter IV. 




. u 60 


Neptune .... 




facing " 74 


Headpiece, Chapter V. 




. " 78 


Paris and Helen . 




. " 80 


Wanderings of JEneas 




. " 91 


The Wooden Horse 




facing " 94 


The Harpies 




. " 100 


Headpiece, Chapter VI. 




. " 101 


Map of Latium . 




. " 103 



(vii) 



Vlll ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Laocoon and his Sons . . facing page 114 

iEneas Relating his Story . . . . " 119 

Headpiece, Chapter VII "120 

Fighting Within the Walls of Troy, facing " 134 
Headpiece, Chapter VIII. ■ . . . " 139 

Rhea Silvia "140 

Faustulus and the Twins . . . . " 143 
Trojan Warriors .... facing "154 

Headpiece, Chapter IX " 158 

Situation of Rome . . . . . " 163 
Ascanius Wounding Sylvia's Stag . facing " 174 
Headpiece, Chapter X. . " 177 

Rhea Sylvia Feeding the Sacred Fire, facing " 192 
Early Roman Ploughing . . . . " 195 
Headpiece, Chapter XI. . . . . " 196 
Spearman and Bowman . . . . " 213 

Headpiece, Chapter XII. . . - . " 214 
The Wolf Caressing Romulus and Remus, facing "216 
Promising the Bracelets . . . . " 226 
Headpiece, Chapter XIII . . . . " 234 
Carrying off a Sabine Woman " . facing " 236 



INTRODUCTORY. 



If Rome had not risen to the proud position 
of mistress of the world, the story of the half- 
civilized chieftain who founded the city would 
never have been written, and the memory of 
his exploits would have perished with him. 

At best the accounts of Romulus and his 
great ancestor iEneas are somewhat legendary 
in character; but they have been incorporated 
into the literature of every civilized nation on 
the globe. 

In the semi- historic times, during which 
Romulus is said to have traced out the form of 
his city with a plough, the stronger took from 
the weaker whatever tempted his ambition or 
seemed good in his eyes; and so we hear of 
Romulus, living in a mud hovel covered 
with thatch in the midst of a few families of 
the old Trojan race, supplying himself and the 
younger men, outlaws and runaways who had 
joined him, with wives by the simple expedient 
of inviting a neighboring tribe to a feast, and 
then carrying off their maidens. 

Whether the stories of iEneas and Romulus 
are fables or not, the later Romans believed 
them, and worshipped Romulus under the 
name of Quirinus. 

(ix) 




The Glory of Rome Foretold to iEneas. 




ROMULUS. 



CHAPTER I. 



CADMUS. 



Some men are renowned in history on 
account of the extraordinary powers and 
capacities which they exhibited in the course 
of their career, or the intrinsic greatness of 
the deeds which they performed. Others, 
without having really achieved anything in 
itself very great or wonderful, have become 
widely known to mankind by reason of the 
vast consequences which, in the subsequent 
course of events, resulted from their doings. 
Men of this latter class are conspicuous 
rather than great. From among thousands 
of other men equally exalted in character 
with themselves, they are brought out prom- 
inently to the notice of mankind only in 
consequence of the strong light reflected, by 
great events subsequently occurring, back 
upon the position where they happened to 
stand. 

The celebrity of Romulus seems to be of 

7 



8 ROMULUS. 

this latter kind. He founded a city. A 
thousand other men have founded cities; 
and in doing their work have evinced per- 
haps as much courage, sagacity, and men- 
tal power as Romulus displayed. The city 
of Romulus, however, became in the end the 
queen and mistress of the world. It rose to 
so exalted a position of influence and power, 
and retained its ascendency so long, that 
now for twenty centuries every civilized 
nation in the western world have felt a strong 
interest in everything pertaining to its his- 
tory, and have been accustomed to look 
back with special curiosity to the circum- 
stances of its origin. In consequence of this 
it has happened that though Romulus, in his 
actual day, performed no very great exploits, 
and enjoyed no pre-eminence above the 
thousand other half -savage chieftains of his 
class, whose names have been long forgotten, 
and very probably while he lived never 
dreamed of any extended fame, yet so bril- 
liant is the illumination which the subsequent 
events of history have shed upon his position 
and his doings, that his name and the in- 
cidents of his life have been brought out 
very conspicuously to view, and attract very 
strongly the attention of mankind. 

The history of Rome is usually made to 
begin with the story of ^Eneas. In order 
that the reader may understand in what 
light that romantic tale is to be regarded, it 
is necessary to premise some statements in 



CADMUS. 9 

respect to the general condition of society 
in ancient days, and to the nature of the 
strange narrations, circulated in those early 
periods among mankind, out of which in 
iater ages, when the art of waiting came to 
je introduced, learned men compiled and re- 
corded what they termed history. 

The countries which formed the shores of 
the Mediterranean sea were as verdant and 
beautiful, in those ancient days, and perhaps 
as fruitful and as densely populated as in 
modern times. The same Italy and Greece 
were there then as now. There were the 
same blue and beautiful seas, the same 
mountains, the same picturesque and en- 
chanting shores, the same smiling valleys, 
and the same serene and genial sky. The 
level lands were tilled industriously by a 
rural population corresponding in all essen- 
tial points of character with the peasantry 
of modern times ; and shepherds and herds- 
men, then as now, hunted the wild beasts, 
and watched their flocks and herds, on the 
declivities of the mountains. In a word, 
the appearance of the face of nature, and 
the performance of the great function of the 
social state, namely, the procuring of food 
and clothing for man by the artificial culti^ 
vation of animal and vegetable life, were 
substantially the same on the shores of the 
Mediterranean two thousand years ago as 
now. Even the plants and the animals 
themselves which the ancient inhabitants 
reared, have undergone no essential change. 



10 ROMULUS. 

Their sheep and oxen and horses were the 
same as ours. So were their grapes, their 
apples, and their corn. 

If, however, we leave the humbler classes 
and occupations of society, and turn our at- 
tention to those which represent the refine- 
ment, the cultivation, and the power, of the 
two respective periods, we shall find that 
almost all analogy fails. There was an 
aristocracy then as now, ruling over the 
widely-extended communities of peaceful 
agriculturalists and herdsmen, but the mem- 
bers of it were entirely different in their 
character, their tastes, their ideas, and their 
occupations from the classes which exercise 
the prerogatives of government in Europe in 
modern times. The nobles then were mili- 
tary chieftains, living in camps or in walled 
cities, wTiich they built for the accommo- 
dation of themselves and their followers. 
These chieftains were not barbarians. They 
were in a certain sense cultivated and re- 
fined. They gathered around them in their 
camps and in their courts orators, poets, 
statesmen, and officers of every grade, who 
seem to have possessed the same energy, 
genius, taste, and in some respects the same 
scientific skill, which have in all ages and in 
every clime characterized the upper classes 
of the Caucasian race. They carried all the 
arts which were necessary for their pur- 
poses and plans to high perfection, and in 
the invention of tales, ballads and poems, to 
be recited at their entertainments and feasts, 



CADMUS. 11 

they evinced the most admirable taste and 
skill ; — a taste and skill which, as they re- 
sulted not from the operation and influence 
of artificial rules, but from the unerring in- 
stinct of genius, have never been surpassed. 
In fact, the poetical inventions of those 
early days, far from having been produced 
in conformity with rules, were entirely pre- 
cedent to rules, in the order of time. Rules 
were formed from them ; for they at length 
became established themselves in the esti- 
mation of mankind, as models, and on their 
authority as models, the whole theory of 
rhetorical and poetical beauty now mainly 
reposes. 

The people of those days formed no idea 
of a spiritual world, or of a spiritual»divin- 
ity. They however imagined, that heroes 
of former days still continued to live and to 
reign in certain semi-heavenly regions among 
the summits of their blue and beautiful 
mountains, and thatthey were invested there 
with attributes in some respects divine. In 
addition to these divinities, the fertile fancy 
of those ancient times filled the earth, the 
air, the sea, and the sky with imaginary be- 
ings, all most graceful and beautiful in their 
forms, and poetical in their functions, — and 
made them the subjects, too, of innumerable 
legends and tales, as graceful, poetical, and 
beautiful as themselves. Every grove, and 
fountain, and river, — every lofty summit 
among the mountains, and every rock and 
promontory along the shores of the sea, — 



12 ROMULUS, 

every cave, every valley, every waterfall, had 
its imaginary occupant, — the genius of the 
spot ; so that every natural object which at- 
tracted public notice at all, was the subject* of 
some picturesque and romantic story. In a 
word, nature was not explored then as now, 
f or # the purpose of ascertaining and recording 
cold and scientific realities, — but to be ad- 
mired, and embellished and animated ; — and 
to be peopled, everywhere, with exquisitely 
beautiful, though imaginary and supernatu- 
ral, life and action. 

What the genius of imagination and 
romance did thus in ancient times with the 
scenery of nature, it did also on the field of 
history. Men explored that field not at all 
to learn sober and actual realities, but to 
find something that they might embellish 
and adorn, and animate with supernatural and 
marvelous life. What the sober realities 
might have actually been, was of no interest 
or moment to them whatever. There were 
no scholars then as now, living in the midst 
of libraries, and finding constant employ- 
ment, and a never-ending pleasure, in re- 
searches for the simple investigation of the 
truth. There was in fact no retirement, no 
seclusion, no study. Everything except 
what related to the "mere daily toil of tilling 
the ground bore direct relation to military 
expeditions, spectacles and parades ; and the 
only field for the exercise of that kind of in- 
tellectual ability which is employed in mod- 
ern times in investigating and recording his- 



CADMUS. 13 

toric truth, was the invention and recitation 
of poems, dramas and tales, to amuse great 
military audiences in camps or public gather- 
ings, convened to witness shows or games, 
or to celebrate great religious festivals. Of 
course under such circumstances there would 
be no interest felt in truth as truth. Ro- 
mance and fable would be far more service- 
able for such ends than reality. 

Still it is obvious that such tales as were 
invented to amuse for the purposes w T e have 
described, would have a deeper interest for 
those who listened to them, if founded in 
some measure upon fact, and connected in 
respect to the scene of their occurrence, with 
real localities. A prince and his court sitting 
at their tables in the palace or the tent, at 
the close of a feast, would listen with greater 
interest to a story that purported to be an 
account of the deeds and the marvelous ad- 
ventures of their own ancestors, than to one 
that was wholly and avowedly imaginary. 
The inventors of these tales would of course 
generally choose such subjects, and their 
narrations would generally consist therefore 
rather of embellishments of actual transac- 
tions, than of inventions wholly original. 
Their heroes were consequently real men ; 
the principal actions ascribed to them were 
real actions, and the places referred to were 
real localities. Thus there was a semblance 
of truth and reality in all these tales which 
added greatly to the interest of them ; while 
there were no means of ascertaining the real 



14 ROMULUS. 

truth, and thus spoiling the story by making 
the falsehood or improbability of it evident 
and glaring. 

We cannot well have a better illustration 
of these principles than is afforded by the 
story of Cadmus, an adventurer who was 
said to have brought the knowledge of alpha- 
betic writing into Greece from some countries 
farther eastward. In modern times there is 
a very strong interest felt in ascertaining 
the exact truth on this subject. The art of 
writing with alphabetic characters was so 
great an invention, and it has exerted so vast 
an influence on the condition and progress of 
mankind since it was introduced, that a very 
strong interest is now felt in everything 
that can be ascertained as actually fact, in 
respect to its origin. If it were possible now 
to determine under what circumstances the 
method of representing the elements of sound 
by written characters was first devised, to 
discover who it was that first conceived the 
idea, and what led him to make the attempt, 
what difficulties he encountered, to what pur- 
poses he first applied his invention, and to 
what result it led, the whole world would 
take a very strong interest in the revelation. 
The essential point, however, to be observed, 
is that it is the real truth in respect to the 
subject that the world are now interested in 
knowing. Were a romance writer to invent 
a tale in respect to the origin of writing, 
however ingenious and entertaining it might 
be in its details, it would excite in the 




Romulus, face p. 1A 

The Oracle at Delphi. {See p. 22. ) 



CADMUS. 15 

learned world at the present day no interest 
whatever. 

There is in fact no account at present ex- 
isting in respect to the actual origin of alpha- 
betic characters, though there is an ac- 
count of the circumstances under which the 
art was brought into Europe from Asia, 
where it seems to have been originally in- 
vented. We will give the facts, first in their 
simple form, and then the narrative in the 
form in which it was related in ancient times, 
as embellished by the ancient story-tellers. 

The facts then, as now generally under- 
stood and believed, are, that there was a 
certain king in some country in Africa, 
named Agenor, who lived about 1500 years 
before Christ. He had a daughter named 
Europa, and several sons. Among his sons 
was one named Cadmus. Europa was a 
beautiful girl, and after a time a wandering 
adventurer from some part of the northern 
shores of the Mediterranean sea, came into 
Africa, and was so much pleased with her 
that he resolved if possible, to obtain her for 
his wife. He did not dare to make proposals 
openly, and he accordingly disguised himself 
and mingled with the servants upon Agenor's 
farm. In this disguise he succeeded in mak- 
ing acquaintance with Europa, and finally 
persuaded her to elope with him. The pair 
accordingly fled, and crossing the Mediter- 
renean, they went to Crete, an island near 
the northern shores of the sea, and there 
they lived together. 

Z — Romulus 



16 ROMULUS. 

The father, when he found that his daugh- 
ter had deceived him and gone away, was 
very indignant, and sent Cadmus and his 
brothers in pursuit of her. The mother of 
Europa, whose name was Telephassa, though 
less indignant perhaps than the father, was 
overwhelmed with grief at the loss of her 
child, and determined to accompany her sons 
in the search. She accordingly took leave 
of her husband and of her native land, and 
set out with Cadmus and her other sons on 
the long journey in search of her lost child. 
Agenor charged his sons never to come home 
again unless they brought Europa with 
them. 

Cadmus, with his mother and brothers, 
traveled slowly toward the northward, along 
the eastern shores of the Mediterranean sea, 
inquiring everywhere for the fugitive. They 
passed through Syria and Phenicia, into 
Asia Minor, and from Asia Minor into. 
Greece. At length Telephassa, worn down, 
perhaps, by fatigue, disappointment, and 
grief, died. Cadmus and his brothers soon 
after became discouraged ; and at last, weary 
with their wanderings, and prevented by 
their father's injunction from returning with- 
out Europa, they determined to settle in 
Greece. In attempting to establish them- 
selves there, however, they became involved 
in various conflicts, first with wild beasts, 
and afterward with men, the natives of the 
land, who seemed to spring up, as it were, 
from the ground, to oppose them. They 



CADMUS. 17 

contrived, however, at length, by fomenting 
quarrels among their enemies, and taking 
sides with one party against the rest, to ge% 
a permanent footing in Greece, and Cadmus 
finallv founded a city there, which he called 
Thebes. 

In establishing the institutions and govern- 
ment of Thebes, and in arranging the 
organization of the people into a social 
state, Cadmus introduced among them 
several arts, which, in that part of the 
country, had been before unknown. One 
of these arts was the* use of copper, which 
metal he taught his new subjects, to procure 
from the ore obtained in mines. There were 
several others ; but the most important of 
all was that he taught them sixteen letters 
representing elementary vocal sounds, by 
means of which inscriptions of words could 
be carved upon monuments, or upon tablets 
of metal or of stone. 

It is not supposed that the idea of repre- 
senting the elements of vocal sounds by 
characters originated with Cadmus, or that 
he invented the characters himself. He 
brought them with him undoubtedly, but 
whether from Egypt or Phenicia, cannot 
now be known. 

Such are the facts of the case, as now 
generally understood and believed. Let us 
now compare this simple narration with the 
romantic tale which the early story-tellers 
made from it. The legend, as they relate 
it, is as follows. 



18 &OMTTLTTS. 

Jupiter was a prince born and bred among 
the summits of Mount Ida, in Crete. His 
father's name was Saturn. Saturn had 
made an agreement that he would cause all 
his sons to be slain, as soon as they were 
born. This was to appease his brother, who 
was his rival, and who consented that 
Saturn should continue to reign only on that 
condition. 

Jupiter's mother, however, was very un- 
willing that her boys should be thus cruelly 
put to death, and she contrived to conceal 
three of them, and save them. The three 
thus preserved were brought up among the 
solitudes of the mountains, watched and at- 
tended by nymphs, and nursed by a goat. 
After they grew up, the} 7 engaged from 
time to time in various wars, and met with 
various wonderful adventures, until at length 
Jupiter, the oldest of them, succeeded, by 
means of thunderbolts which he caused to 
be forged for his use, in vast subterranean 
caverns beneath Mount Etna and Mount 
Vesuvius, conquered all his enemies, and 
became universal king. He, however, 
divided his empire between himself and his 
brothers, giving to them respectively the 
command of the sea and of the subterranean 
reigions, while he reserved the earth and the 
heavenly regions for himself. 

He established his usual abode among the 
mountains of Northern Greece, but he often 
made excursions to and fro upon the earth, 
appearing in various disguises, and meeting 



CADMUS. 



19 



with a great number of strange and marvel 
ous adventures. In the course of these 
wanderings he found his way at one time 
into Egypt, and to the dominions of Agenor, 
— and there he saw Agenor's beautiful 
daughter, Europa. He immediately deter- 
mined to make her his bride ; and to secure 




Jupiter and Europa. 

this object he assumed the form of a very 
iinely shaped and beautiful bull, and in this 
guise joined himself to Agenor's herds of 
cattle. Europa soon saw him there. She 
was much pleased with the beauty of his 
form, and finding him gentle and kind in 
disposition, she approached him, patted his 



20 EOMULUS. 

glossy neck and sides, and in other similar 
way s gratified the prince by marks of her 
admiration and pleasure. She was at length 
induced by some secret and magical in- 
fluence which the prince exerted over her, 
to mount upon his back, and allow herself 
to be borne away. The bull ran w 7 ith his 
burden to the shore, and plunged into the 
weaves. He swam across the sea to Crete,* 
and there, resuming his proper form, he 
made the princess his bride. 

Agenor and Telephassa, w 7 hen they found 
that their daughter was gone, were in great 
distress, and Agenor immediately deter- 
mined to send his sons on an expedition in 
pursuit of her. The names of his sons were 
Cadmus, Phoenix, Cylix, Thasus, and Phi- 
neus. Cadmus, as the oldest son, was to be 
the director of the expedition. Telephassa, 
the mother, resolved to accompany them, so 
overwhelmed was she with affliction at the 
loss of her daughter. Agenor himself was 
almost equally oppressed with the calamity 
which had overwhelmed them, and he 
charged his sons never to come home again 
until they could bring Europa w r ith them. 

Telephassa and her sons wandered for a 
time in the countries east of the Mediterra- 
nean Sea, without being able to obtain any 
tidings of the fugitive. At length they 
passed into Asia Minor, and from Asia Minor 
into Thrace, a country lying north of the 
^Egean Sea. Finding no traces of their sister 
* See Map, p. 21, 



CADMUS. 



21 



in any of these countries, the sons of Agenor 
became discouraged, and resolved to make 
no farther search ; and Telephassa, ex- 
hausted with anxiety and fatigue, and now 
overwhelmed with the thought that all hope 
must be finally abandoned, sank down and 
died. 




The Journeyings op Cadmus. 



Cadmus and his brothers were much af- 
fected at their mother's death. They made 
arrangements for her burial, in a manner 
befitting her high rank and station, and 
when the funeral solemnities had been per- 



22 ROMULUS. 

formed, Cadmus repaired to the oracle at 
Delphi, which was situated in the northern 
part of Greece, not very far from Thrace, 
in order that he might inquire there whether 
there was anything more that he could do 
to recover his lost sister, and if so to learn 
what course he was to pursue. The oracle 
replied to him that he must search for his 
sister no more, but instead of it turn his, 
attention wholly to the work of establishing 
a home and a kingdom for himself, in Greece. 
To this end he was to travel on in a direc- 
tion indicated, until he met with a cow of a 
certain kind, described by the oracle, and 
then to follow the cow wherever she might 
lead the way, until at length, becoming fa- 
tigued, she should stop and lie down. Upon 
the spot where the cow should lie down 
he was to build a city and make it his capital. 
Cadmus obeyed these directions of the 
oracle. He left Delphi and went on, attend- 
ed, as he had been in all his wanderings, 
by a troop of companions and followers, 
until at length in the herds of one of the 
people of the country, named Pelagon, he 
found a cow answering to the description 
of the oracle. Taking this cow for his guide, 
he followed wherever she led the way. She 
conducted him toward the southward and 
eastward for thirty or forty miles, and at 
length wearied apparently, by her long 
journey, she lay down. Cadmus knew im- 
mediately that this was the spot where his 
city was to stand. 



CADMUS, 23 

He began immediately to make arrange- 
ments for the "building of the city, but he 
determined first to offer the cow that had 
been his divinely appointed guide to the spot, 
as a sacrifice to Minerva, whom he always 
considered as his guardian goddess. 

Near the spot where the cow lay down 
there was a small stream which issued from 
a fountain not far distant, called the foun- 
tain of Dirce. Cadmus sent some of his 
men to the place to obtain some water which 
it was necessary to use in the ceremonies of 
the sacrifice. It happened, however, that 
this fountain was a sacred one, having been 
consecrated to Mars, — and there was a great 
dragon, a son of Mars, stationed there to 
guard it. The men whom Cadmus sent did 
not return, and accordingly Cadmus himself, 
after waiting a suitable time, proceeded to 
the spot to ascertain the cause of the delay. 
He found that the dragon had killed his men, 
and at the time when he arrived at the spot, 
the monster was greedily devouring the 
bodies. Cadmus immediately attacked the 
dragon and slew him, and then tore his teeth 
out of his head, as trophies of his victory. 
Minerva had assisted Cadmus in this combat, 
and when it was ended she directed him to 
plant the teeth of the dragon in the ground. 
Cadmus did so, and immediately a host of 
armed men sprung up from the place where 
he had planted them. Cadmus threw a 
stone among these armed men, when they 
immediately began to contend together in a 



24 ROMULUS. 

desperate conflict, until at length all but five 
of them were slain. These five then joined 
themselves to Cadmus, and helped him to 
build his city. 

He went on very successfully after this. 
The city which he built was Thebes, which 
afterward became greatly celebrated. The 
citadel which he erected within, he called, 
from his own name, Cadmia. 

Such were the legends which were related 
in ancient poems and tales ; and it is ob- 
vious that such narratives must have been 
composed to entertain groups of listeners 
whose main desire was to be excited and 
amused, and not to be instructed. The 
stories were believed, no doubt, and the faith 
which the hearer felt in their truth added of 
course very greatly to the interest which 
they awakened in his mind. The stories 
are amusing to us ; but it is impossible for 
us to share in the deep and solemn emotion 
with which the ancient audiences listened 
to them, for we have not the power, as they 
had, of believing them. Such tales related 
in respect to the great actors on the stage in 
modern times, would awaken no interest, 
for there is too general a diffusion both of 
historical and philosophical knowledge to 
render it possible for any one to suppose 
them to be true. But those for whom the 
story of Europawas invented, had no means 
of knowing how wide the Mediterranean 
Sea might be, and whether a bull might not 
swim across it. They did not know but 



CADMUS. 25 

that Mars might have a dragon for a son, 
and that the teeth of such a dragon might 
not, when sown in the ground, spring up in 
the form of a troop of armed men. They 
listened therefore to the tale with an in- 
terest all the more earnest and solemn on 
account of the marvelousness of the recital. 
They repeated it word for word to one an- 
other, around their camp-fires, at their feasts, 
in their journeyings, — and when watching 
their flocks at midnight, among the solitudes 
of the mountains. Thus the tales were 
handed down from generation to generation, 
until at length the use of the letters of 
Cadmus became so far facilitated, that con- 
tinuous narrations could be expressed by 
means of them ; and then they were put 
permanently upon record in many forms, 
and were thus transmitted without any 
farther change to the present age. 




Mars. 




CHAPTER II. 



CADMUS'S LETTERS. 



There are two modes essentially distinct 
from each other, by which ideas may be 
communicated through the medium of in- 
scriptions addressed to the eye. These two 
modes are, first, by symbolical, and secondly, 
by phonetic characters. Each of these two 
systems assumes, in fact, within itself, quite 
a variety of distinct forms, though it is only 
the general characteristics which distinguish 
the two great classes from each other, that 
we shall have occasion particularly to notice 
here. 

Symbolical writing consists of characters 
intended severally to denote ideas or things, 
and not words. A good example of true 
symbolical writing is to be found in a 
certain figure often employed among the 
architectural decorations of churches, as an 
emblem of the Deity. It consists of a tri- 
angle representing the Trinity with the 
figure of an eye in the middle of it. The 
eye is intended to denote the divine omnis- 
cience. Such a character as this, is obviously 
the symbol of an idea, not the representative 
of a word. It may be read Jehovah, or 

26 




CADMUS'S LETTERS. 27 

God, or the Deity, or by any other word or 
phrase by which men are accustomed to de- 
note the Supreme Being. 
It represents, in fine, the 
idea, and not any partic- 
ular word by which the 
idea is expressed. 

The first attempts of 
men to preserve records 
of facts by means of in- 
scriptions, have, in all ages, and among all 
nations, been of this character. At first, 
the inscriptions so made were strictly pic- 
tures, in which the whole scene intended 
to be commemorated was represented, in 
rude carvings. In process of time substi- 
tutions and abridgments were adopted in 
lieu of full representations, and these grew 
at length into a system of hieroglyphical 
characters, some natural, and others more 
or less arbitrary, but all denoting ideas 
or things, and not the sounds of words. 
These characters are of the kind usually 
understood by the word hieroglyphics; 
though that word cannot now with strict 
accuracy be applied as a distinctive appella- 
tion, since it has been ascertained in modern 
times that a large portion of the Egyptian 
hieroglyphics are of such a nature as brings 
them within the second of the two classes 
which we are here describing ; that is, the 
several delineations represent the sounds and 
syllables of words, instead of being symbols 
of ideas or things. 



28 ROMULUS. 

It happened that in some cases in this 
species of writing, as used in ancient times, 
the characters which were employed pre- 
sented in their form some natural resem- 
blance to the thing signified, and in other 
cases they were wholly arbitrary. Thus, 
the figure of a scepter denoted a king, that 
of a lion, strength ; and two warriors, one 
with a shield, and the other advancing to- 
ward the first with a bow and arrow, rep- 
resented a battle. "We use in fact a symbol 
similar to the last-mentioned one at the 
present day, upon maps, where we often see 
a character formed by two swords crossed, 
employed to represent a battle. 

The ancient Mexicans had a mode of writ- 
ing which seems to have been symbolical in 
its character, and their characters had, many 
of them at least, a natural signification. 
The different cities and towns were repre- 
sented by drawings of such simple objects as 
were characteristic of them respectively ; as 
a plant, a tree, an article of manufacture, 
or any other object by which the place in 
question was most easily and naturally to 
be distinguished from other places. In one 
of their inscriptions, for example, there was 
a character representing a king, and before 
it four heads. Each of the heads was ac- 
companied by the symbol of the capital of a 
province, as above described. The meaning 
of the whole inscription was that in a certain 
tumult or insurrection the king caused the 
governors of the four cities to be beheaded. 



CADMUS'S LETTERS. 29 

But though, in this symbolical mode of 
writing, a great many ideas and events could 
be represented thus, by means of signs or 
symbols having a greater or less resemblance 
to the thing signified, yet in many cases the 
characters used were wholly arbitra^. They 
were in this respect like the character which 
we use to denote dollars, as a prefix to a 
number expressing money ; for this character 
is a sort of symbol, that is, it represents a 
thing rather than a word. Our numerals, 
too, 1, 2, 3, etc., are in some respects of the 
character of symbols. That is, they stand 
directly for the numbers themselves, and not 
for the sounds of the words by which the 
numbers are expressed. Hence, although 
the people of different European nations 
understand them all alike, they read them, 
in words, very differently. The Englishman 
reads them by one set of words, the Spaniard 
by another, and the German and the Italian 
by others still. 

The symbolical mode of writing possesses 
some advantages which must not be over- 
looked. It speaks directly to the eye, and 
is more full of meaning than the Phonetic 
method, though the meaning is necessarily 
more vague and indistinct, in some respects, 
while it is less so in others. For example, 
in an advertising newspaper, the simple fig- 
ure of a house, or of a ship, or of a locomo- 
tive engine, at the head of an advertisement, 
is a sort of hieroglyphic, which says much 
more plainly and distinctly, and in much 



SO BOMtTLUS. 

shorter time, than any combination of letters 
could do, that what follows it is an advertise- 
ment relating to a house, or a vessel, or a 
railroad. In the same manner, the ancient 
representations on monuments and columns 
would communicate, perhaps more rapidly 
and readily to the passer-by, an idea of the 
battles, the sieges, the marches, and the 
other great exploits of the monarchs whose 
history they were intended to record, than 
an inscription in words would have done. 

Another advantage of the symbolical rep- 
resentations, as used in ancient times, was 
that their meaning could be more readily 
explained, and would be more easily remem- 
bered, and so explained again, than written 
words. To learn to read literal writing in 
any language, is a work of very great labor. 
It is, in fact, generally found that it must be 
commenced early in life, or it cannot be ac- 
complished at all. An inscription, therefore, 
in words, on a Mexican monument, that a 
certain king suppressed an insurrection, and 
beheaded the governors of four of his prov- 
inces, would be wholly blind and unintelli- 
gible to the mass of the population of such a 
country ; and if the learned sculptor who 
inscribed it were to attempt to explain it to 
them, letter by letter, they would forget the 
beginning of the lesson before reaching the 
end of it, — and could never be expected to 
attempt extending the knowledge by mak- 
ing known the interpretation which they 
had received to others in their turn. But 



CADMUS'S LETTERS. 31 

the royal scepter, with the four heads before 
it, each of the heads accompanied by the ap- 
propriate symbol of the city to which the 
possessor of it belonged, formed a symbolical 
congeries which expressed its meaning at 
once, and very plainly, to the eye. The 
most ignorant and uncultivated could readily 
understand it. Once understanding it, too, 
they could never easily forget it ; and they 
could, without any difficulty, explain it fully 
to others as ignorant and uncultivated as 
themselves. 

It might seem, at first view, that a symbol- 
ical mode of writing must be more simple in 
its character than the system now in use, in- 
asmuch as by that plan each idea or object 
would be expressed by one character alone, 
whereas, by our mode of writing, several 
characters, sometimes as many as eight or 
ten, are required to express a word, which 
word, after all, represents only one single 
object or idea. But notwithstanding this ap- 
parent simplicity, the system of symbolical 
writing proved to be, when extensively em- 
ployed, extremely complicated and intricate. 
It is true that each idea required but one 
character, but the number of ideas and ob- 
jects, and of words expressive of their rela- 
tions to one another, is so vast, that the sys- 
tem of representing them by independent 
symbols soon lost itself in an endless in- 
tricacy of detail. Then, besides, — notwith- 
standing what has been said of the facility 
with which symbolical inscriptions could be 

O— Romulus 



32 ROMULUS. 

interpreted, — they were, after all, extremely 
difficult to be understood without interpre- 
tation. An inscription once explained, the 
explanation was easily understood and re 
membered ; but it was very difficult to un- 
derstand one intended to express any new 
communication. The system was, therefore, 
well adapted to commemorate what was al- 
ready known, but was of little service as a 
mode of communicating knowledge anew. 

We come now to consider the second grand 
class of written characters, namely, the pho- 
netic, the class which Cadmus introduced 
into Greece, and the one almost universally 
adopted among all the European nations at 
the present day. It is called 
Phonetic, from a Greek 
word denoting sound, be- 
cause the characters which 
are used do not denote di- 
rectly the thing itself which 
is signified, but the sounds 
made in speaking the word 

which signifies it. Take, 

for instance, the two modes 
3A1 LEl °t representing a conflict 
between two contending ar- 
mies, one by the symbolic 
delineation oi two swords 
crossed, and the other by the phonetic de- 
lineation of the letters of the word battle. 
They are both inscriptions. The beginning 
of the first represents the handle of the 
sword, a part, as it were, of the thing sig- 




CADMUS'S LETTEKS. 33 

nified. The beginning of the second, the 
letter J, represents the pressing of the lips 
together, by which we commence pronounc- 
ing the word. Thus the one mode is sym- 
bolical, and the other phonetic. 

On considering the two methods, as exem- 
plified in this simple instance, we shall ob- 
serve that what has already been pointed 
out as characteristic of the two modes is 
here seen to be true. The idea is conveyed 
in the symbolical mode by one character, 
while by the phonetic it requires no less than 
six. This seems at first view to indicate a 
great advantage possessed by the symbolical 
system. But on reflection this advantage is 
found entirely to disappear. For the sym- 
bolical character, though it is only one, will 
answer for only the single idea which it de- 
notes. Neither itself nor any of its elements 
will aid us in forming a symbol for any other 
idea; and as the ideas, objects, and relations 
which it is necessary to be able to express, 
in order to make free and full communica- 
tions in any language, are from fifty to a 
hundred thousand, — the step which we have 
taken, though very simple in itself, is the 
beginning of a course which must lead to 
the most endless intricacy and complication. 
Whereas in the six phonetic characters of 
the word battle, we have elements which 
can be used again and again, in the expres- 
sion of thousands of other ideas. In fact, 
as the phonetic characters which are found 
necessary in most languages are only about 



34 ROMULUS. 

twenty-four, we have in that single word 
accomplished one quarter of the whole task, 
so far as the delineation of characters is con- 
cerned, that is necessary for expressing by 
writing any possible combination of ideas 
which human language can convev. 

At what time and in what manner the 
transition was made among the ancient 
nations from the symbolic to the phonetic 
mode of writing, is not now known. When 
in the flourishing periods of the Grecian and 
Roman states, learned men explored the 
literary records of the various nations of the 
East, writings were found in all, which were 
expressed in phonetic characters, and the 
alphabets of these characters were found to 
be so analogous to each other, in the names 
and order, and in some respects in the forms, 
of the letters, as to indicate strongly some- 
thing like community of origin. All the at- 
tempts, however, which have been made to as- 
certain the origin of the system, have wholly 
failed, and no account of them goes farther 
back than to the time when Cadmus brought 
them from Phenicia or Egypt into Greece. 

The letters which Cadmus brought were 
in number sixteen. The following table 
presents a view of his alphabet, presenting 
in the several columns the letters themselves 
as subsequently written in Greece, the Greek 
names given to them, and their power as 
represented by the letters now in use. The 
forms, it will be seen, have been but little 
changed. 





CADMUS S LETTERS. 




lett( 


3rs. Greek names. English i 


repn 


A 


Alpha 


A 


B 


Beta 


B 


r 


Gamma 


G 


A 


Delta 


D 


E 


Epsilon 


E 


I 


Iota 


I 


A 


Lamda 


L 


M 


Mu 


M 


N 


Nu 


N 





Omicron 


O 


n 


Pi 


P 


p 


Rho 


B 


2 


Sigma 


S 


T 


Tau 


T 


Y 


Upsilon 


U 



35 



The phonetic alphabet of Cadmus, though 
so vastly superior to any system of symbolical 
hieroglyphics, for all purposes where any- 
thing like verbal accuracy was desired, was 
still very slow in coming into general use. 
It was of course, at first, very difficult to 
write it, and very difficult to read it when 
written. There was a very great practical 
obstacle, too, in the way of its general intro- 
duction, in the want of any suitable materials 
for writing. To cut letters with a chisel and 
a mallet upon a surface of marble is a very 
slow and toilsome process. To diminish this 
labor the ancients contrived tables of brass, 
copper, lead, and sometimes of wood, and 
cut the inscriptions upon them by the use of 
various tools and implements. Still it is ob- 
vious, that by such methods as these the art 



36 EOMULUS. 

of writing could only be used to an extremely 
limited extent, such as for brief inscriptions 
in registers and upon monuments, where a 
very few words would express all that it was 
necessary to record. 

In process of time, however, the plan of 
fainting the letters by means of a black dye 
upon a smooth surface was introduced. The 
surface employed to receive these inscriptions 
was, at first, the skin of some animal prepared 
for this purpose, and the dye used for ink 
was a colored liquid obtained from a certain 
nsh. This method of writing, though in 
some respects more convenient than the 
others, was still slow, and the materials were 
expensive ; and it was a long time before 
the new art was employed for anything like 
continuous composition. Cadmus is supposed 
to have come into Greece about the year 
1550 before Christ ; and it was not until about 
650 before Christ—that is, nearly nine hun- 
dred years later — that the art of writing 
was resorted to in Greece to record laws. 

The evidences that writing was very little 
used in any way during this long period of 
nine hundred years, are furnished in various 
allusions contained in poems and narratives 
that were composed during those times, and 
committed to writing afterward. In the 
poems of Homer, for instance, there is no 
allusion, from the beginning to the end, to 
any monument or tomb containing any in- 
scription whatever ; although many occasions 
occur in which such inscriptions would have 



CADMUS'S LETTERS. 37 

been made, if the events described were 
real, and the art of writing had been gener- 
ally known, or would have been imagined to 
be made, if the narratives were invented. 
In one case a ship-master takes a cargo on 
board, and he is represented as having to 
remember all the articles, instead of making 
a record of them. Another case still more 
striking is adduced. In the course of the 
contest around the walls of Troy, the 
Grecian leaders are described at one time 
as drawing lots to determine which of them 
should fight a certain Trojan champion. 
The lots were prepared, being made of some 
substance that could be marked, and when 
ready, were distributed to the several leaders. 
Each one of the leaders then marked his lot 
in some way, taking care to remember what 
character he had made upon it. The 
lots were then all put into a helmet, and 
the helmet was given to a herald, who was 
to shake it about in such a manner, if pos- 
sible, as to throw out one of the lots and 
leave the others in. The leader whose lot 
it was that should be thus shaken out, was 
to be considered as the one designated by 
the decision, to fight the Trojan champion. 

Now, in executing this plan, the herald, 
when he had shaken out a lot, and had 
taken it up from the ground, is represented, 
in the narrative, as not knowing whose it 
was, and as carrying it around, accordingly, 
to all the different leaders, to find the one 
who could recognize it as his own. A cer- 



88 ROMULUS. 

tain chief named Ajax recognized it, and in 
this way he was designated for the combat. 
Now it is supposed, that if these men had 
been able to write, that they would have 
inscribed their own names upon the lots, 
instead of marking them with unmeaning 
characters. And even if they were not 
practised writers themselves, some secretary 
or scribe would have been called upon to act 
for them on such an occasion as this, if the 
art of writing had been at that time so 
generally known as to be customarily 
employed on public occasions. From these 
and similar indications which are found, on 
a careful examination, in the Homeric poems, 
learned men have concluded that they were 
composed and repeated orally, at a period 
of the world when the art of writing was 
very little known, and that they were 
handed down from generation to generation, 
through the memory of those who repeated 
them, until at last the art of writing became 
established among mankind, when they 
were at length put permanently upon record. 
It seems that writing was not much em- 
ployed for any of the ordinary and private 
purposes of life by the people of Greece 
until the article called papyrus was intro- 
duced among them. This took place about 
the year 600 before Christ, when laws began 
first to be written. Papyrus, like the art of 
writing upon it, came originally from Egypt. 
It was obtained from a tree which it seems* 
grew only in that country. The tree flour 



CADMUS'S LETTERS. 39 

ished in the low lands along the margin of 
the Nile. It grew to the height of about 
ten feet. The paper obtained from it was 
formed from a sort of inner bark, which con- 
sisted of thin sheets or pellicles growing 
around the wood. The paper was manu- 
factured in the following manner. A sheet 
of the thin bark as taken from the tree, was 
laid flat upon a board, and then a cross 
layer was laid over it, the materials having 
been previously moistened with water made 
slightly glutinous. The sheet thus formed 
was pressed and dried in the sun. The 
placing of two layers of the bark in this 
manner across each other was intended to 
strengthen the texture of the sheet, for the 
fibers, it was found, were very easily sepa- 
rated and torn so long as they lay wholly 
in one direction. The sheet when dry was 
finished by smoothing the surface, and pre- 
pared to receive inscriptions made by means 
of a pen fashioned from a reed or a quill. 

In forming the papyrus into books it was 
customary to use a long sheet or web of it, 
and roll it upon a stick, as is the custom in 
respect to maps at the present day. The 
writing was in columns, each of which 
formed a sort of page, the reader holding 
the ends of the roll in his two hands, and 
reading at the part which was open between 
them. Of course, as he advanced, he con- 
tinually unrolled on one side, and rolled up 
upon the other. Rolls of parchment were 
often made in the same manner. 



40 EOMULUS. 

The term volume used in respect to modern 
books, had its origin in this ancient practise 
of writing upon long rolls. The modern 
practise is certainly much to be preferred, 
though the ancient one was far less incon- 
venient than might at first be supposed. 
The long sheet was rolled upon a wooden 
billet, which gave to the volume a certain 
firmness and solidity, and afforded it great 
protection. The ends of this roller projected 
beyond the edges of the sheet, and were ter- 
minated in knobs or bosses, which guarded 
in some measure the edges of the papyrus or 
of the parchment. The whole volume was 
also inclosed in a parchment case, on the 
outside of which the title of the work was 
conspicuously recorded. Many of these an- 
cient rolls have been found at Herculaneum. 

For ink, various colored liquids were used, 
generally black, but sometimes red and 
sometimes green. The black ink was some- 
times manufactured from a species of lamp- 
black or ivory black, such as is often used in 
modern times for painting. Some specimens 
of the inkstands which were used in ancient 
times have been found at Herculaneum, and 
one of them contained ink, which though too 
thick to flow readily from the pen, it was 
still possible to write with. It was of about 
the consistence of oil. 

These rolls of papyrus and parchment, 
however, were only used for important 
writings which it was intended permanently 
to preserve. For ordinary occasions tablets 



CADMUS'S LETTERS. 41 

of wax and other similar materials were 
used, upon which the writer traced the 
characters with the point of a steel instru- 
ment called a style. The head of the style 
was smooth and rounded, so that any words 
which the writer wished to erase might be 
obliterated by smoothing over again, with it, 
the wax on which they had been written. 

Such is a brief history of the rise and pro- 
gress of the art of writing in the States of 
Greece. Whether the phonetic principle 
which Cadmus introduced was brought 
originally from Egypt, or from the countries 
on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean 
sea, cannot now be ascertained. It has gen- 
erally been supposed among mankind, at 
least until within a recent period, that the 
art of phonetic waiting did not originate in 
Egypt, for the inscriptions on all the ancient 
monuments in that country are of such a 
character that it has always been supposed 
that they were symbolical characters alto- 
gether, and that no traces of any phonetic 
writing existed in that land. Within the 
present century, however, the discovery has 
been made that a large portion of these 
hieroglyphics are phonetic in their character ; 
and that the learned world in attempting 
for so many centuries, in vain, to affix sym- 
bolical meanings to them, had been altogether 
upon the wrong track. The delineations, 
though they consist almost wholly of the 
forms of plants and animals, and of other 
natural and artificial objects, are not sym- 



42 ROMULUS. 

bolical representations of ideas, but letters, 
representing sounds and words. They are 
thus precisely similar, in principle, to the 
letters of Cadmus, though wholly different 
from them in form. 

To enable the reader to obtain a clearer 
idea of the nature of this discovery, we give 
on the adjoining page some specimens of 
Egyptian inscriptions found in various parts 
of the country, and which are interpreted to 
express the name Cleopatra, a very common 
name for princesses of the royal line in 
Egypt during the dynasty of the Ptolemy's. 
We mark the various figures forming the in- 
scription, with the letters which modern in- 
terpreters have assigned to them. It will 
be seen that they all spell, rudely indeed, 
but yet tolerably distinctly, the name Cleo- 
patra. 

By a careful examination of these speci- 
mens, it will be seen that the order of plac- 
ing the letters, if such hieroglyphical char- 
acters can be so called, is not regular, and 
the letter #, which is denoted by a bird in 
some of the specimens, is represented differ- 
ently in others. There are also two char- 
acters at the close of each inscription which 
are not represented by any letter, the one 
being of the form of an egg^ and the other 
a semicircle. These last are supposed to de- 
note the sex of the sovereign whose name 
they are connected with, as they are found 
in many cases in inscriptions commemorative 
of princesses and queens. They are accord- 



OADMUS'S LETTERS. 



43 



*\i d> d o* tf^j 



£b>' 



M^cfl 



p 




S^NH 




/f^BT\ 




flBlfr 



^ 



KEY 

£23 

a 



4 
/ 

a 
o 

A 
A 

r 






=\\ 



mi 



44 ROMULUS. 

ingly specimens of symbolic characters, 
while all the others in the name are phonetic. 

It seems therefore not improbable that 
the principle of forming a written language 
by means of characters representing the 
sounds of which the words of the spoken 
language are composed, was of Egyptian 
origin ; and that it was carried in very early 
times to the countries on the easte^ shore 
of the Mediterranean sea, and there I proved 
upon by the adoption of a class of characters 
more simple than the hieroglyphics of Egypt, 
and of a form more convenient for a regular 
linear arrangement in writing. Moses, who 
spent his early life in Egypt, and who was 
said to be learned in all the wisdom of the 
Egyptians, may have acquired the art of 
writing there. 

However this may be, and whatever ma^ 
be the uncertainty which hangs over the 
early history of this art, one thing is certain, 
and that is, that the discovery of the art of 
writing, including that of printing, which is 
only the consummation and perfection of it, 
— the art by which man can record lan- 
guage, and give life and power to the record 
to speak to the eye permanently and forever 
— to go to every nation — to address itself 
simultaneously to millions of minds, and to 
endure through all time, is by far the great- 
est discovery, in respect to tha enlargement 
which it makes of human powers, that has 
ever been made. 




CHAPTER III. 



THE STORY OF .ENEAS. 



Besides the intrinsic interest and impor- 
tance of the facts stated in the last chapter, 
to the student of history, there was a special 
reason for calling the attention of the reader 
to them here, that he might know in what 
light the story of the destruction of Troy, 
and of the wanderings of JEneas, the great 
ancestor of Romulus, which we now proceed 
to relate, is properly to be regarded. The 
events connected with the destruction of 
Troy, took place, if they ever occurred at 
all, about the year twelve hundred before 
Christ. Homer is supposed to have lived 
and composed his poems about the year nine 
hundred ; and the art of writing is thought 
to have been first employed for the purpose 
recording continuous compositions, about 
the year six hundred. The story of ^Eneas 
then, so far as it has any claims to historical 
truth, is a tale which was handed down by 
oral tradition, among story-tellers for three 
hundred years, and then was clothed in 
verse, and handed down in that form orally 
by the memory of the reciters of it, in 
generations successive for three hundred 



4 — Romulua 



45 



46 KOMULUS. 

years more, before it was recorded ; and 
during the whole period of this transmission, 
the interest felt in it was not the desire for 
ascertaining and communicating historic 
truth, but simply for entertaining companies 
of listeners with the details of a romantic 
story. The story, therefore, cannot be re- 
lied upon as historically true ; but it is no 
less important on that account, that all 
well-informed persons should know what 
it is. 

The mother of iEneas (as the story goes), 
was a celebrated goddess. Her name was 
Aphrodite ; * though among the Romans 
she afterward received the name of Venus. 
Aphrodite was not born of a mother, like 
ordinary mortals, but sprang mysteriously 
and supernaturally from a foam which 
gathered on a certain occasion upon the sur- 
face of the sea. At the commencement of 
her existence she crept out upon the shores 
of an island that was near, — the island of 
Cythera, — which lies south of the Pelopon- 
nesus. 

She was the goddess of love, of beauty, 
and of f ruitf ulness ; and so extraordinary 
were the magical powers which were in- 
herent from the beginning, in her very 
nature, that as she walked along upon the 
sands of the shore, when she first emerged 
from the sea, plants and flowers of the richest 
verdure and beauty sprang up at her feet 
wherever she stepped. She was, besides, in 
* Pronounced in four syllables, Aph-ro-di-te. 



THE STORY OF ^ENEAS. 



47 



her own person, inexpressibly beautiful ; 
and in addition to the natural influence of 
her charms, she was endued with the super- 
natural power of inspiring the sentiment of 
love in all w T ho beheld her. 

From Cythera the goddess made her way 
over by sea to Cyprus, where she remained 
for some time, amid the gorgeous and mag- 
nificent scenery of that enchanting island. 
Here she had two children, beautiful boys. 
Their names were Eros and Anteros. Each 




Origin of Venus. 



of these children remained perpetually a 
child, and Eros, in later times called Cupid, 
became the god of " love bestowed," while 
Anteros was the God of " love returned." 
After this the mother and the boys roamed 
about the world, — now in the heavenly re- 
gions above, and now among mortals on the 
plains and in the valleys below : they some- 
times appeared openly, in their true forms, 
sometimes they assumed disguises, and some- 



48 ROMULUS. 

times they were wholly invisible; but 
whether seen or unseen, they were always 
busy in performing their functions — the 
mother inspiring everywhere, in the minds 
both of gods and men, the tenderest senti- 
ments of beauty and desire, — while Eros, 
awakened love in the heart of one person 
for another, and Anteros made it his duty to 
tease and punish those who thus became 
objects of affection, if they did not return 
the love. 

After some time, Aphrodite and her boys 
found their way to the heavenly regions of 
Mount Olympus, where the great divinities 
resided,* and there they soon produced great 
trouble, by enkindling the flames of love in 
the hearts of the divinities themselves, caus- 
ing them, by her magic power, to fall in love 
not only with one another, but also with 
mortal men and women on the earth below. 
In retaliation upon Aphrodite for this mis- 
chief, Jupiter, by his supreme power, in- 
spired Aphrodite herself with a sentiment 
of love. The object of her affection was 
Anchises, a handsome youth, of the royal 
family of Troy, who lived among the moun- 
tains of Ida, not far from the city. 

The way in which it happened that the 
affection of Aphrodite turned toward an in- 
habitant of Mount Ida was this. There had 
been at one time a marriage among the div- 
inities, and a certain goddess who had not 
been invited to the wedding, conceived the 
* See Map, page 47. 



THE STORY OF ^ENEAS. 49 

design of avenging herself for the neglect, 
by provoking a quarrel among those who 
were there. She, accordingly, caused a 
beautiful golden apple to be made, with an 
inscription marked upon it, " For the most 
beautiful." This apple she threw in among 
the guests assembled at the wedding. The 
goddesses all claimed the prize, and a very 
earnest dispute arose among them in respect 
to it. Jupiter sent the several claimants, 
under the charge of a special messenger, to 
Mount Ida, to a handsome and accomplished 
young shepherd there, named Paris — who 
was, in fact, a prince in disguise — that they 
might exhibit themselves to him, and submit 
the question of the right to the apple to his 
award. Th e contending goddesses appeared 
accordingly before Paris, and each attempted 
to bribe him to decide in her favor, by offer- 
ing him some peculiar and tempting reward. 
Paris gave the apple to Aphrodite, and she 
was so pleased with the result, that she took 
Paris under her special protection, and made 
the solitudes of Mount Ida one of her fa- 
vorite retreats. 

Here she saw and became acquainted with 
Anchises, who was, as has already been said, 
a noble, or prince, by descent, though he had 
for some time been dwelling away from the 
city, and among the mountains, rearing flocks 
and herds. Here Aphrodite saw him, and 
when Jupiter inspired her with a sudden sus- 
ceptibility to the power of love, the shep- 
herd Anchises was the object toward which 



50 ROMULUS. 

her affections turned. She accordingly went 
to Mount Ida, and giving herself up to him, 
she lived with him for some time among the 
mountains as his bride. iEneas was their 
son. 

Aphrodite did not, however, appear to 
Anchises in her true character, but assumed, 
instead, the form and the disguise of a Phry- 
gian princess. Phrj^gia was a kingdom of 
Asia Minor, not very far from Troy. She 
continued this disguise as long as she re- 
mained with Anchises at Mount Ida; at 
length, however, she concluded to leave him, 
and to return to Olympus, and at her part- 
ing she made herself known. She, however, 
charged Anchises never to reveal to any per- 
son who she was, declaring that ^Eneas, 
whom she was going to leave with his father 
when she went away, would be destroyed 
by a stroke of lightning from heaven, if the 
real truth in respect to his mother were ever 
revealed. 

When Aphrodite had gone, Anchises, hav- 
ing now no longer any one at home to at- 
tend to the rearing of the child, sent him 
to Dardanus, a city to the northward of 
Troy, where he was brought up in the house 
of his sister, the daughter of Anchises, who 
was married and settled there. His having 
a sister old enough to be married, would seem 
to show that youth was not one of the at- 
tractions of Anchises in Aphrodite's eyes. 
iEneas remained with his sister until he was 
old enough to be of service in the care of 



THE STORY OF ^ENEAS. 51 

flocks and herds, and then returned again 
to his former residence among the pastur- 
ages of the mountains. His mother, though 
she had left him, did not forget her child ; 
but watched over him continually, and in- 
terposed directly to aid or to protect him, 
whenever her aid was required by the oc- 
currence of any emergency of difficulty or 
danger. 

At length the Trojan war broke out. 
For a time, however, iEneas took no part 
in it. He was jealous of the attentions 
which Priam, the king of Troy, paid to 
other young men, and fancied that he him- 
self was overlooked, and that the services 
that he might render were undervalued. 
He remained, therefore, at his home among 
the mountains, occupying himself with his 
flocks and herds ; and he might, perhaps, 
have continued in these peaceful avocations 
to the end of the war, had it not been that 
Achilles, one of the most formidable of the 
Grecian leaders, in one of his forays in the 
country around Troy, in search of provi- 
sions, came upon ^Eneas's territory, and 
attacked him while tending his flocks upon 
the mountain side. Achilles seized the 
flocks and herds, and drove iEneas and his 
fellow-herdsmen away. They would, in 
fact, all have been killed, had not Aphrodite 
interposed to protect her son and save his 
life. 

The loss of his flocks and herds, and the 
injury which he himself had received, aroused 



52 ROMULUS. 

^Eneas's indignation and anger against the 
Greeks. He immediately raised an armed 
force of Dardanians, and thenceforth took 
an active part in the war. He became one 
of the most distinguished among the com- 
batants, for his prowess and his bravery ; 
and being always assisted by his mother in 
his conflicts, and rescued by her when in 
danger, he performed prodigies of strength 
and valor. 

At one time he pressed forward into the 
thickest of the battle to rescue a Trojan 
leader named Pandarus, who was beset by 
his foes and brought into very imminent 
danger. ^Eneas did not succeed in saving 
his friend. Pandarus was killed. JEneas, 
however, flew to the spot, and by means of 
the most extraordinary feats of strength and 
valor he drove the Greeks away from the 
body. They attacked it on every side, but 
JEneas, wheeling around it, fighting now on 
this side and now on that, drove them all 
away. They retired to a little distance 
and then began to throw in a shower of 
spears and darts and arrows upon him. 
JEneas defended himself and the body of his 
friend from these missiles for a time, with 
his shield. At length, however, he was struck 
in the thigh with a ponderous stone which 
one of the Greek warriors hurled at him, — a 
stone so heavy that two men of ordinary 
strength would have been required to lift it. 
JEneas was felled to the ground by the 
blow. He sank down, resting upon his arm, 



THE STORY OF ^ENEAS. 53 

faint and dizzy, and being thus made helpless 
would have immediately been overpowered 
and killed by his assailants had not his mother 
interposed. She came immediately to rescue 
him. She spread her veil over him, which 
had the magic power of rendering harmless 
all blows which were aimed at what was cov- 
ered by it, and then taking him up in her 
arms she bore him off through the midst of 
his enemies unharmed. The swords, spears, 
and javelins which were aimed at him were 
rendered powerless by the magic veil. 

Aphrodite, however, flying thus with her 
wounded son, mother-like, left herself exposed 
in her anxiety to protect him. Diomedes, 
the chief of the pursuers, following headlong 
on, aimed a lance at Venus herself. The 
lance struck Yenus in the hand, and inflicted 
a very severe and painful wound. It did 
not, however, stop her flight. She pressed 
swiftly on, while Diomedes, satisfied with 
his revenge, gave up the pursuit, but called 
out to Aphrodite as she disappeared from 
view, bidding her learn from the lesson which 
he had given her that it would be best for 
her thenceforth to remain in her own appro- 
priate sphere, and not come down to the 
earth and interfere in the contests of mortal 
men. 

Aphrodite, after conveying JEneas to a 
place of safety, fled, herself, faint and bleed- 
ing, to the moantains, where, after ascending 
to the region of mists and clouds, Iris, the 
beautiful goddess of the rainbow, came to 



54 ROMULUS. 

her aid. Iris found her faint and pale from 
the loss of blood ; she did all in her power 
to soothe and comfort the wounded goddess, 
and then led her farther still among the 
mountains to a place where they found Mars, 
the god of war, standing with his chariot. 
Mars was Aphrodite's brother. He took 
compassion upon his sister in her distress, 
and lent Iris his chariot and horses, to con- 
vey Aphrodite home. Aphrodite ascended 
into the chariot, and Iris took the reins ; and 
thus they rode through the air to the mount- 
ains of Olympus. Here the gods and god- 
desses of heaven gathered around their un- 
happy sister, bound up her wound, and ex- 
pressed great sympathy for her in her suf- 
ferings, uttering at the same time many 
piteous complaints against the merciless vio- 
lence and inhumanity of men. Such is the 
ancient tale of ^Eneas and his mother. 

At a later period in the history of the war, 
JEneas had a grand combat with Achilles, 
who was the most terrible of all the Grecian 
warriors, and w T as regarded as the grand 
champion of their cause. The two armies 
were drawn up in battle array. A vast open 
space was left between them on the open 
plain. Into this space the two combatants 
advanced, JEneas on the one side and Achilles 
on the other, in full view of all the troops, 
and of the throngs of spectators assembled 
to witness the proceeding. 

A very strong and an universal interest 
was felt in the approaching combat. iEneas, 



THE STORY OF ^ENEAS. 55 

besides the prodigious strength and bravery 
for which he was renowned, was to be 
divinely aided, it was known, by the pro- 
tection of his mother, who was always at 
hand to guide and support him in the conflict, 
and to succor him in danger. Achilles, on 
the other hand, possessed a charmed life. 
He had been dipped by his mother Thetis, 
when an infant, in the river Styx, to render 
him invulnerable and immortal ; and the im- 
mersion produced the effect intended in re- 
spect to all those parts of the body which 
the water laved. As, however, Thetis held 
the child by the ankles when she plunged 
him in, the ankles remained unaffected by 
the magic influence of the water. All the 
other parts of the body were rendered in- 
capable of receiving a w^ound. 

Achilles had a very beautiful and costly 
shield which his mother had caused to be 
made for him. It was formed of five plates 
of metal. The outermost plates on each side 
were of brass ; in the center was a plate of 
gold and between the central plate of gold 
and the outer ones of brass were two other 
plates, one on each side, made of some third 
metal. The workmanship of this shield was 
of the most elaborate and beautiful character. 
The mother of Achilles had given this weapon 
to her son when he left home to join the 
Greeks in the Trojan war, not trusting en- 
tirely it seems to his magical invulnerabil- 
ity. 

The armies looked on with great interest 



56 KOMULUS. 

as these two champions advanced to meet 
each other, while all the gods and goddesses 
surveyed the scene with almost equal interest, 
from their abodes above. Some joined Yenus 
in the sympathy which she felt for her son, 
while others espoused the cause of Achilles. 
"When the two combatants had approached 
each other, they paused before commencing 
the conflict, as is usual in such cases, and sur- 
veyed each other with looks of anger and de- 
fiance. At length Achilles spoke. He began 
to upbraid ^Eneas for his infatuation and 
folly in engaging in the war, and especially 
for coming forward to put his life at hazard 
by encountering such a champion as was now 
before him. " What can you gain, 5 * said he, 
" even if you conquer in this warfare ? You 
can never be king, even if you succeed in 
saving the city. I know you claim to be 
descended from the royal line ; but Priam 
has sons who are the direct and immediate 
heirs, and your claims can never be allowed. 
Then, besides, what folly to attempt to con- 
tend with me ! Me, the strongest, bravest, 
and most terrible of the Greeks, and the 
special favorite of many deities." With this 
introduction Achilles went on to set forth 
the greatness of his pedigree, and the lofti- 
ness of his pretensions to superiority over all 
others in personal prowess and valor, in a 
manner very eloquent indeed, and in a style 
which it seems was very much admired in 
those days as evincing only a proper spirit 
and energy, — though in our times such a 



THE STORY OF ^ESTEAS. 57 

harangue would be very apt to be regarded 
as only a vainglorious and empty boasting. 

^Eneas replied, — retorting with vauntings 
on his side no less spirited and energetic than 
those which Achilles had expressed. He 
gave a long account of his pedigree, and of 
his various claims to lofty consideration. 
He, however, said, in conclusion, that it was 
idle and useless for them to waste their time 
in such a war of words, and so he hurled his 
spear at Achilles with all his force, as a token 
of the commencement of the battle. 

The spear struck the shield of Achilles, and 
impinged upon it with such force that it pen- 
etrated through two of the plates of metal 
which composed the shield, and reached the 
central plate of gold, where the force with 
which it had been thrown being spent, it 
was arrested and fell to the ground. Achil- 
les then exerting his utmost strength threw 
his spear in return. JEneas crouched down 
to avoid the shock of the weapon, holding 
his shield at the same time above his head, 
and bracing himself with all his force against 
the approaching concussion. The spear 
struck the shield near the upper edge of it, 
as it was held in ^Eneas's hand. It passed di- 
rectly through the plates of which the shield 
was composed, and then continuing its course, 
it glided down just over ^Eneas's back, and 
planted itself deep in the ground behind him, 
and stood there quivering. iEneas crept 
out from beneath it with a look of horror. 

Immediately after throwing his spear, and 



58 ROMULUS. 

perceiving that it had failed of its intended 
effect, Achilles drew his sword and rushed 
forward to engage ^Eneas, hand to hand. 
JEneas himself recovering in an instant from 
the consternation which his narrow escape 
from impalement had awakened, seized an 
enormous stone, heavier, as Homer repre- 
sents it, than any two ordinary men could 
lift, and was about to hurl it at his advancing 
foe, when suddenly the whole combat was ter- 
minated by a very unexpected interposition. 
It seems that the various gods and goddesses, 
from their celestial abodes among the sum- 
mits of Olympus, had assembled in invisible 
forms to witness this combat — some sympa- 
thizing with and upholding one of the com- 
batants, and some the other. Neptune was 
on iEneas's side ; and accordingly when he 
saw how imminent the danger was which 
threatened ^Eneas, when Achilles came rush- 
ing upon him with his uplifted sword, he at 
once resolved to interfere. He immediately 
rushed, himself, between the combatants. 
He brought a sudden and supernatural mist 
over the scene, such as the God of the Sea 
has always at his command ; and this mist 
at once concealed iEneas from Achilles's 
view. Neptune drew the spear out of the 
ground, and released it too from the shield 
which remained still pinned dow n by it ; and 
then threw the spear down at Achilles's feet. 
He next seized JEneas, and lifting him high 
above the ground he bore him away in an 
invisible form over the heads of soldiers and 



THE FLIGHT OF ^SNEAS. 89 

come by chance. They are all ordered by 
an overruling providence that is omnipotent 
and divine. It was predetermined by the 
decrees of heaven that you were not to take 
me with you in your flight. I have learned 
what your future destiny is to be. There is 
a long period of weary wandering before 
you, over the ocean and on the land, and 
you will have many difficulties, dangers, and 
trials to incur. You will, however, be con- 
ducted safely through them all, and will in 
the end find a peaceful and happy home on 
the banks of the Tiber. There you will 
found a new kingdom; a princess is even 
now provided for you there, to become your 
bride. Cease then to mourn for me ; rather 
rejoice that I did not fall a captive into the 
hands of our enemies, to be carried away 
into Greece and made a slave. I am free, 
and you must not lament my fate. Fare- 
well. Love Ascanius for my sake, and 
watch over him and protect him as long as 
you live." 

Having spoken these words, the vision 
began to disappear. JEneas endeavored to 
clasp the beloved image in his arms to retain 
it, but it was intangible and evanescent, and, 
before he could speak to it, it was gone, and 
he was left standing in the desolate and 
gloomy street alone. He turned at length 
slowly away ; and solitary, thoughtful and 
sad, he went back to the gate of the city, and 
thence out to the valley where he had con- 
cealed Anchises and his little son. 

/ — Romulus 



90 KOMULUS. 

He found them safe. The whole party- 
then sought places of retreat among the glens 
and mountains, where they could remain 
concealed a few days, while ^Eneas and his 
companions could make arrangements for 
abandoning the country altogether. These 
arrangements were soon completed. As soon 
as the Greeks had retired, so that they could 
come out without danger from their place of 
retreat, ^Eneas employed his men in building 
a number of small vessels, fitting them, as 
was usual in those days, both with sails and 
oars. 

During the progress of these preparations, 
small parties of Trojans were coming in con- 
tinually, day by day, to join him ; being 
drawn successively from their hiding-places 
among the mountains, by hearing that the 
Greeks had gone away, and that JSneas was 
gradually assembling the remnant of the 
Trojans on the shore. The numbers thus 
collected at JEneas's encampment gradually 
increased, and as ^Eneas enlarged and ex^ 
tended his naval preparations to correspond 
with the augmenting numbers of his ad- 
herents, he found when he was ready to set 
sail, that he was at the head of a very re- 
spectable naval and military force. 

When the fleet at last was ready, he put a 
stock of provisions on board, and embarked 
his men, — taking, of course, Anchises and 
Ascanius with him. As soon as a favorable 
wind arose, the expedition set sail. As the 
vessels moved slowly away, the decks were 



THE FLIGHT OF ^ENEAS. 



91 



covered with men and women, who gazed 
mournfully at the receding shores, conscious 
that they were bidding a final farewell to 
their native land. 

The nearest country within reach in leav- 
ing the Trojan coast, was Thrace — a country 
lying north of the Egean Sea, and of the 
Propontis, being separated, in fact, in one 
part, from the Trojan territories, only by 




Wanderings op ^neas. 

the Hellespont. ^Eneas turned his course 
northward toward this country, and, after a 
short voyage, landed there, and attempted 
to make a settlement. He was, however, 
prevented from remaining long, by a dread- 
ful prodigy which he witnessed there, and 
which induced him to leave those shores 
very precipitously. The prodigy was this: 
They had erected an altar on the shore, 
after they had landed, and were preparing 
to offer the sacrifices customary on such oo 



92 ROMULUS. 

casions, when .ZSneas, wishing to shade the 
altar with boughs, went to a myrtle bush 
which was growing near, and began to pull 
up the green shoots from the ground. To 
his astonishment and horror, he found that 
blood flowed from the roots whenever they 
were broken. Drops of what appeared to 
be human blood would ooze from the rup- 
tured part as he held the shoot in his hand, 
and fall slowly to the ground. He was 
greatly terrified at this spectacle, consider- 
ing it as some omen of very dreadful import. 
He immediately and instinctively offered up 
a prayer to the presiding deities of the land, 
that they would avert from him the evil in- 
fluences, whatever they might be, which 
the omen seemed to portend, or that they 
would at least explain the meaning of the 
prodigy. After offering this prayer, he 
took hold of another stem of the myrtle, 
and attempted to draw it from the ground, 
in order to see whether any change in the 
appearances exhibited by the prodigy had 
been effected by his prayer. At the instant, 
however, when the roots began to give 
way, he heard a groan coming up from 
the ground below, as if from a person in 
suffering. Immediately afterward a voice, 
in a mournful and sepulchral accent, began 
to beg him to go away, and cease disturbing 
the repose of the dead. " What you are 
tearing and lacerating," said the voice, " is 
not a tree, but a man. I am Poly dor us. I 
was killed by the king of Thrace, and in- 



THE FLIGHT OF ^ENEAS. 93 

stead of burial, have been turned into a 
myrtle growing on the shore." 

Polydorus was a Trojan prince. He was 
the youngest son of Priam, and had been 
sent some years before to Thrace, to be 
brought up in the court of the Thracian king. 
He had been provided with a large supply 
of money and treasures when he left Troy, 
in order that all his wants might be abun- 
dantly supplied, and that he might maintain, 
during his absence from home, the position 
to which his rank as a Trojan prince entitled 
him. His treasures, however, which had 
been provided for him by his father as his 
sure reliance for support and protection, 
became the occasion of his ruin — for the 
Thracian king, when he found that the war 
was going against the Trojans, and that 
Priam the father was slain, and the city 
destroyed, murdered the helpless son to get 
possession of his gold. 

^Eneas and his companions were shocked 
to hear this story, and perceived at once 
that Thrace was no place of safety for them. 
They resolved immediately to leave the 
coast and seek their fortunes in other regions. 
They, however, first, in secrecy and silence, 
but with great solemnity, performed those 
funeral rites for Polydorus which were con- 
sidered in those ages essential to the repose 
of the dead. When these mournful cere- 
monies were ended they embarked on board 
their ships again and sailed away. 

After this, the party of Jineas spent 



94 ROMULUS. 

many months in weary voyages from island 
to island, and from shore to shore, along 
the Mediterranean sea, encountering every 
imaginable difficulty and danger, and meet- 
ing continually with the strangest and most 
romantic adventures. At one time they 
were misled by a mistaken interpretation of 
prophecy to attempt a settlement in Crete 
— a green and beautiful island lying south 
of the Egean sea. They had applied to a 
sacred oracle, which had its seat at a cer- 
tain consecrated spot which they visited in 
the course of their progress southward 
through the Egean sea, asking the oracle to 
direct them where to go in order to find a 
settled home. The oracle, in answer to 
their request, informed them that they were 
to go to the land that their ancestors had 
originally come from, before their settle- 
ment in Troy. ^Eneas applied to Anchises 
to inform them what land this was. An- 
chises replied, that he thought it was Crete. 
There was an ancient tradition, he said, that 
some distinguished men among the ancestors 
of the Trojans had originated in Crete ; and 
he presumed accordingly that that was the 
land to which the oracle referred. 

The course of the little fleet was accord- 
ingly directed southward, and in due time 
the expedition safely reached the island of 
Crete, and landed there. They immediately 
commenced the work of effecting a settle- 
ment. They drew the ships up upon the 
shore ; they laid out a city ; they inclosed 




Romulus , face p . 9A 

The Wooden Horse. (Seep. 61.) 



THE FLIGHT OF ^ENEAS. 95 

and planted fields, and began to build their 
bouses. In a short time, however, all their 
bright prospects of rest and security were 
blighted by the breaking out of a dreadful 
pestilence among them. Many died; others 
who still lived, were utterly prostrated by 
the effects of the disease, and crawled about, 
emaciated and wretched, a miserable and 
piteous spectacle to behold. To crown their 
misfortunes, a great drought came on. The 
grain which they had planted was dried up 
and killed in the fields ; and thus, in addition 
to the horrors of pestilence, they were threat- 
ened with the still greater horrors of 
famine. Their distress was extreme, and 
they were utterly at a loss to know what 
to do. 

In this extremity Anchises recommended 
that they should send back to the oracle to 
inquire more particularly in respect to the 
meaning of the former response, in order to 
ascertain whether they had, by possibility, 
misinterpreted it, and made their settlement 
on the wrong ground. Or, if this was not 
the case, to learn by what other error or 
fault they had displeased the celestial powers, 
and brought upon themselves such terrible 
judgments. iEneas determined to adopt 
this advice, but he was prevented from carry- 
ing his intentions into effect by the follow- 
ing occurrence. 

One night he was lying upon his couch 
in his dwelling, — so harassed by his anxie- 
ties and cares that he could not sleep, and 



96 ROMULUS. 

revolving in his mind all possible plans for 
extricating himself and his followers from 
the difficulties which environed them. The 
moon shone in at the windows, and by the 
light of this luminary he saw, reposing in 
their shrines in the opposite side of the apart- 
ment where he was sleeping, the household 
images which he had rescued from the 
flames of Troy. As he looked upon these 
divinities in the still and solemn hour of 
midnight, oppressed with anxiety and care, 
one of them began to address him. 

" "We are commissioned," said this super- 
natural voice, " by Apollo, whose oracle you 
are intending to consult again, to give you 
the answer that you desire, without requir- 
ing you to go back to his te'mple. It is true 
that you have erred in attempting to make 
a settlement in Crete. This is not the land 
which is destined to be your home. You 
must leave these shores, and continue your 
voyage. The land which is destined to re- 
ceive you is Italy, a land far removed from 
this spot, and your way to it lies over wide 
and boisterous seas. Do not be discouraged, 
however, on this account, or on account of 
the calamities which now impend over you. 
You will be prospered in the end. You will 
reach Italy in safety, and there you will lay 
the foundations of a mighty empire, which 
in days to come will extend its dominion far 
and wide among the nations of the earth. 
Take courage, then, and embark once more 
in your ships with a cheerful and confident 



THE FLIGHT OF ^NEAS. 97 

heart. You are safe, and in the end all will 
turn out well." 

The strength and spirits of the desponding 
adventurer were very essentially revived by 
this encouragement. He immediately pre- 
pared to obey the injunctions which had 
been thus divinely communicated to him, 
and in a short time the half -built city was 
abandoned, and the expedition once more 
embarked on board the fleet and proceeded 
to sea. They met in their subsequent wan- 
derings with a great variety of adventures, 
but it would extend this portion of our nar- 
rative too far, to relate them all. They en- 
countered a storm by which for three days 
and three nights they were tossed to and fro, 
without seeing sun or stars, and of course 
without any guidance whatever ; and during 
all this time they were in the most imminent 
danger of being overwhelmed and destroyed 
by the billows which rolled sublimely and 
frightfully around them. At another time, 
having landed for rest and refreshment 
among a group of Grecian islands, they were 
attacked by the harpies, birds of prey of 
prodigious size and most offensive habits, 
and fierce and voracious beyond description. 
The harpies were celebrated, in fact, in many 
of the ancient tales, as a race of beings that 
infested certain shores, and often teased and 
tormented the mariners and adventurers that 
happened to come among them. Some said, 
however, that there was not a race of such 
beings, but only two or three in all, and they 



98 ROMULUS. 

gave their names. And yet different nar- 
rators gave different names, among which 
were Aelopos, Nicothoe, Ocythoe OcypoaB, 
Celaeno, Acholoe, and Aello. Some said 
that the harpies had the faces and forms of 
women. Others described them as fright- 
fully ugly ; but all agree in representing 
them as voracious beyond description, always 
greedily devouring everything that they 
could get within reach of their claws. 

These fierce monsters flew down upon 
^Eneas and his party, and carried away the 
food from off the table before them; and 
even attacked the men themselves. The 
men then armed themselves with swords, 
secretly, and waited for the next approach 
of the harpies, intending to kill them, when 
they came near. But the nimble marauders 
eluded all their blows, and escaped with their 
plunder as before. At length the expedition 
was driven away from the island altogether, 
by these ravenous fowls, and when they 
were embarking on board of their vessels, 
the leader of the harpies perched herself 
upon a rock overlooking the scene, and in a 
human voice loaded ^Eneas and his com- 
panions, as they went away, with taunts and 
execrations. 

The expedition passed one night in great 
terror and dread in the vicinity of Mount 
Etna, where they had landed. The awful 
eruptions of smoke, and flame, and burning 
lava, which issued at midnight from the sum- 
mit of the mountain, — the thundering sounds 



THE FLIGHT OF JENEAS. 99 

which they heard rolling beneath them, 
through the ground, and the dread which 
was inspired in their minds by the terrible 
monsters that dwelt beneath the mountains, 
as they supposed, and fed the fires, all com- 
bined to impress them with a sense of unut- 
terable awe ; and as soon as the light of the 
morning enabled them to resume their course, 
they made all haste to get away from so 
appalling a scene. At another time they 
touched upon a coast which was inhabited 
by a race of one-eyed giants, — monsters of 
enormous magnitude and of remorseless 
cruelty. They were cannibals, — feeding on 
the bodies of men whom they killed by grasp- 
ing them in their hands and beating them 
against the rocks which formed the sides of 
their den. Some men whom one of these 
monsters named Polyphemus, had shut up 
in his cavern, contrived to surprise their 
keeper in his sleep, and though they were 
wholly unable to kill him on account of his 
colossal magnitude, they succeeded in put- 
ting out his eye, and ^Eneas and his com- 
panions saw the blinded giant, as they passed 
along the coast, wading in the sea, and bath- 
ing his wound. He was guiding his footsteps 
as he walked, by means of the trunk of a 
tall pine which served him for a staff. 

At length, however, after the lapse of a 
long period of time, and after meeting with 
a great variety of adventures to which we can 
not even here allude, ^Eneas and his party 
reached the shores of Italy, at the point 



100 ROMULUS. 

which by divine intimations had been pointed 
out to them as the place where they were to 
land. 

The story of the life and adventures of 
iEneas, which we have given in this and in 
the preceding chapters, is a faithful summary 
of the narrative which the poetic historians 




The Harpies. 

of those days recorded. It is, of course, not 
to be relied upon as a narrative of facts ; but 
it is worthy of very special attention by 
every cultivated mind of the present day, 
from the fact, that such is the beauty, the 
grace, the melody, the inimitable poetic 
perfection with which the story is told, in 
the language in which the original record 
stands, that the narrative has made a more 
deep, and widespread, and lasting impression 
upon the human mind than any other narra- 
tive perhaps that ever was penned. 




CHAPTEK VI. 

THE LANDING IN LATIUM. 

Latitjm was the name given to an ancient 
province of Italy, lying south of the Tiber. 
At the time of iEneas's arrival upon the coast 
it was an independent kingdom. . Tho name 
of the king who reigned over it at this period 
was Latinus. 

The country on the banks of the Tiber, 
where the city of Home afterward arose, 
was then a wild but picturesque rural region, 
consisting of hills and valleys, occupied by 
shepherds and husbandmen, but with noth- 
ing upon it whatever, to mark it as the site 
of a city. The people that dwelt in Latium 
were shepherds and herdsmen, though there 
was a considerable band of warriors under 
the command of the king. The inhabitants 
of the country were of Greek origin, and they 
had brought with them from Greece, when 
they colonized the country, such rude arts 
as were then known. They had the use of 
Cadmus's letters, for writing, so far as writ- 
ing was employed at all in those early days. 
They were skilful in making such weapons 
of war, and such simple instruments of music, 
as were known at the time, and they could 

101 



102 KOMULUS. 

erect buildings, of wood, or of stone, and 
thus constructed such dwellings as they 
needed, in their towns, and walls and citadels 
for defense. 

JEneas brought his fleet into the mouth of 
the Tiber, and anchored it there. He him- 
self, and all his followers were thoroughly 
weary of their wanderings, and hoped that 
they were now about to land where they 
should find a permanent abode. The number 
of ships and men that had formed the expedi- 
tion at the commencement of the voyage, 
was very large ; but it had been considerably 
diminished by the various misfortunes and 
accidents incident to such an enterprise, and 
the remnant that was left longed ardently 
for rest. Some of the ships took fire, and 
were burned at their moorings in the Tiber, 
immediately after the arrival of the expedi- 
tion. It was said that they w^ere set on 
fire by the wives and mothers belonging to 
the expedition, — who wished, by destroying 
the ships, to render it impossible for the fleet 
to go to sea again. 

However this may be, iEneas was very 
strongly disposed to make the beautiful re- 
gion which he now saw before him, his final 
home. The country, in every aspect of it, 
was alluring in the highest degree. Level 
plains, varied here and there by gentle ele- 
vations, extended around him, all adorned 
with groves and flowers, and exhibiting a 
luxuriance in the verdure of the grass and 
in the foliage of the trees that was perfectly 



THE LANDING IN LATIUM. 



103 



enchanting to the sea-weary eyes of his 
company of mariners. In the distance, blue 
and beautiful mountains bounded the hori- 
zon, and a soft, warm summer haze floated 
over the whole scene, bathing the landscape 



fABJXl's 







Map of Latitm. 

in a rich mellow light peculiar to Italian 
skies. 

As soon as the disembarkation was effect- 
ed, lines of encampment were marked out, 
at a suitable place on the shore, and such 
simple fortifications as were necessary for 
defense in such a case, were thrown up. 
iEneas despatched one party in boats to 

8 — Romulus 



104 ROMULUS. 

explore the various passages and channels 
which formed the mouth of the river, per- 
haps in order to be prepared to make good 
his escape again, to sea, in case of any sud- 
den or extraordinary danger. Another 
party were employed in erecting altars, and 
preparing for sacrifices and other religious 
celebrations, designed on the part of JEneas 
to propitiate the deities of the place, and to 
inspire his men with religious confidence 
and trust. He also immediately proceeded 
to organize a party of reconnoiterers who 
were to proceed into the interior, to explore 
the country and to communicate with the 
inhabitants. 

The party of reconnoiterers thus sent out 
followed up the banks of the river, and 
made excursions in various directions across 
the fields and plains. They found that the 
country was everywhere verdant and beau- 
tiful, and that it was covered in the interior 
with scattered hamlets and towns. They 
learned the name of the king, and also that 
of the city which he made his capitol. La- 
tinus himself at the same time, heard the 
tidings of the arrival of these strangers. 
His first impulse was immediately to make 
an onset upon them with all his forces, and 
drive them away from his shores. On far- 
ther inquiry, however, he learned that they 
were in a distressed and suffering condition, 
and from the descriptions which were given 
him of their dress and demeanor he con- 
cluded that they were Greeks. This idea 



THE LANDING IN LATIUM. 105 

awakened in his mind some apprehension ; 
for the Greeks were then well known 
throughout the world, and were regarded 
everywhere as terrible enemies. Besides his 
fears, his pity and compassion w^ere awak- 
ened, too, in some degree ; and he was on 
the whole for a time quite at a loss to know 
what course to pursue in respect to the in- 
truders. 

In the mean time ^Eneas concluded to 
send an embassy to Latinus to explain the 
circumstances under which he had been in- 
duced to land so large a party on the Italian 
coast. He accordingly designated a consid- 
erable number of men to form this embassy, 
and giving to some of the number his in- 
structions as to what they were to say to 
Latinus, he committed to the hands of the 
others a large number of gifts which they 
were to carry and present to him. These 
gifts consisted of weapons elaborately fin- 
ished, vessels of gold or silver, embroidered 
garments, and such other articles as were 
customarily employed in those days as pro- 
pitiatory offerings in such emergencies. 
The embassy when all was arranged pro- 
ceeded to the Latian capital. 

When they came in sight of it they found 
that it was a spacious city, w r itn walls 
around it, and turrets and battlements 
within, rising here and there above the 
roofs of the dwellings. Outside the gates a 
portion of the population were assembled 
busily engaged in games, and in various 



106 ROMULUS. 

gymnastic and equestrian performances. 
Some were driving furiously in chariots 
around great circles marked out for the 
course. Others were practising feats of 
horsemanship, or running races upon fleet 
chargers. Others still were practising with 
darts, or bows and arrows, or javelins ; 
either to test and improve their individual 
skill, or else to compete with each other for 
victory or for a prize. The ambassadors 
paused when they came in view of this scene, 
and waited until intelligence could be sent 
in to the monarch, informing him of their 
arrival. 

Latinus decided immediately to admit the 
embassy to an audience, and they were ac- 
cordingly conducted into the city. They 
w r ere led, after entering by the gates, through 
various streets, until they came at length 
to a large public edifice, which seemed to 
be, at the same time, palace, senate-house, 
and citadel. There were to be seen, in the 
avenues which led to this edifice, statues of 
old warriors, and various other martial 
decorations. There were many old trophies 
of former victories preserved here, such as 
arms, and chariots, and prows of ships, and 
crests, and great bolts and bars taken from 
the gates of conquered cities, — all old, war- 
worn, and now useless, but preserved as 
memorials of bravery and conquest. The 
Trojan embassy, passing through and among 
these trophies, as they stood or hung in the 
halls and vestibules of the palace, were at 



THE LANDING IN LATIUM. 107 

length ushered into the presence of Latinus 
the king. 

Here, after the usual ceremonies of intro- 
duction were performed, they delivered the 
message which iEneas had intrusted to 
them. They declared that they had not 
landed on Latinus's shore with any hostile 
intent. They had been driven away, they 
said, from their own homes, by a series of 
dire calamities, which had ended, at last, in 
the total destruction of their native city. 
Since then they had been driven to and fro 
at the mercy of the winds and waves, exposed 
to every conceivable degree of hardship and 
danger. Their landing finally, in the domin- 
ions of Latinus in Italy, was not, they con- 
fessed, wholly undesigned, for Latium had 
been divinely indicated to them, on their 
way, as the place destined by the decrees of 
heaven for their final home. Following 
these indications, they had sought the shores 
of Italy and the mouths of the Tiber, and 
having succeeded in reaching them, had 
landed ; and now ^Eneas, their commander, 
desired of the king that he would allow 
them to settle in his land in peace, and that 
he would set apart a portion of his territory 
for them, and give them leave to build a 
city. 

The effect produced upon the mind of La- 
tinus by the appearance of these ambas- 
sadors, and by the communication which 
they made to him, proved to be highly 
favorable. He received the presents, "too, 



108 ROMULUS. 

which they had brought him, in a very 
gracious manner, and appeared to be much 
pleased with them. He had heard, as would 
seem, rumors of the destruction of Troy, 
and of the departure of ^Eneas's squadron ; 
for a long time had been consumed by the 
wanderings of the expedition along the 
Mediterranean shores, so that some years 
had now elapsed since the destruction of 
Troy and the first sailing of the fleet. In a 
word, Latinus soon determined to accede to 
the proposals of his visitors, and he concluded 
with iEneas a treaty of alliance and friend- 
ship. He designated a spot where the new 
city might be built, and all things were thus 
amicably settled. 

There was one circumstance which exerted 
a powerful influence in promoting the estab- 
lishment of friendly relations between La- 
tinus and the Trojans, and that was, that 
Latinus was engaged, at the time of ^Eneas's 
arrival, in a war with the Rutulians, a 
nation that inhabited a country lying south 
of Latium and on the coast. Latinus thought 
that by making the Trojans his friends, he 
should be able to enlist them as his auxiliaries 
in this war. ^Eneas made no objection to 
this, and it was accordingly agreed that the 
Trojans, in return for being received as 
friends, and allowed to settle in Latium, 
were to join with their protectors in defend- 
ing the country, and were especially to aid 
them in prosecuting the existing war. 

In a short time a still closer alliance was 



THE LANDING IN LATIUM. 109 

formed between JEneas and Latinus, an alli- 
ance which in the end resulted in the ac- 
cession of ^Eneas to the throne of Latinus. 
Latinus had a daughter named Lavinia. She 
was an only child, and was a princess of ex- 
traordinary merit and beauty. The name 
of the queen, her mother, the wife of La- 
tinus, was Amata. Amata had intended 
her daughter to be the wife of Turnus, a 
young prince of great character and promise, 
who had been brought up in Latinus's court. 
Turnus was, in fact, a distant relative of 
Amata, and the plan of the queen was that 
he should marry Lavinia, and in the end 
succeed with her, to the throne of Latinus. 
Latinus himself had not entered into this 
scheme ; and when closing his negotiations 
with iEneas, it seemed to him that it would 
be well to seal and secure the adherence of 
iEneas to his cause by offering him his 
daughter Lavinia for his bride, .^Eneas was 
very willing to accede to this proposal. 
What the wishes of Lavinia herself were in 
respect to the arrangement, it is not very 
well known ; nor were her wishes, according 
to the ideas that prevailed in those times, 
of any consequence whatever, The plan 
was arranged, and the nuptials were soon 
to be celebrated. Turnus, when he found 
that he was to be superseded, left the court 
of Latinus, and went away out of the country 
in a rage. 

^Eneas and his followers seemed now to 
have come to the end of all their troubles. 



110 BOMULUS. 

They were at last happily established in 
a fruitful land, surrounded by powerful 
friends, and about to enter apparently upon 
a long career of peaceful and prosperous in- 
dustry. They immediately engaged with 
great ardor in the work of building their 
town. iEneas had intended to have named 
it Troy, in commemoration of the ancient 
city now no more. But, in view of his 
approaching marriage with Lavinia, he de- 
termined to change this design, and, in 
honor of her, to name the new capital Lav- 
inium. 

The territory which had been assigned to 
the Trojans by Latinus was in the south- 
western part of Latium, near the coast, and 
of course it was on the confines of the coun- 
try of the Eutulians. Turnus, when he left 
Latium, went over to the Eutulians, deter- 
mining, in his resentment against Latinus 
for having given Lavinia to his rival, to join 
them in the war. The Eutulians made him 
their leader, and he soon advanced at the 
head of a great army across the frontier, 
toward the new city of Lavinium. Thus 
^Eneas found himself threatened with a very 
formidable danger. 

Nor was this all. For just before the 
commencement of the war with Turnus, an 
extraordinary train of circumstances oc- 
curred which resulted in alienating the 
Latins themselves from their new ally, and 
in leaving JEneas consequently to sustain 
the shock of the contest with Turnus and 



THE LANDING IN LATIUM. Ill 

his Rutulians alone. It would naturally be 
supposed that the alliance between Latinus 
and iEneas would not be very favorably 
regarded by the common people of Latium. 
They would, on the other hand, naturally 
look with much jealousy and distrust on a 
company of foreign intruders, admitted by 
what they would be very likely to consider 
the capricious partiality of their king, to a 
share of their country. This jealousy and 
distrust was, for a time, suppressed and con- 
cealed ; but the animosity only acquired 
strength and concentration by being re- 
strained, and at length an event occurred 
which caused it to break forth with uncon- 
trollable fury. The circumstances were 
these : 

There was a man in Latium named Tyr- 
rheus, who held the office of royal herdsman. 
He lived in his hut on some of the domains 
of Latinus, and had charge of the flocks 
and herds belonging to the king. He had 
two sons, and likewise a daughter. The 
daughter's name, was Sylvia. The two 
boys had one day succeeded in making pris- 
oner of a young stag, which they found in 
the woods with its mother. It was extremely 
young when they captured it, and they 
brought it home as a great prize. They 
fed it with milk until it was old enough to 
take other food, and as it grew up accus- 
tomed to their hands, it was very tame and 
docile, and became a great favorite with all 
the family. Sylvia loved and played with 



112 JL10MULUS. 

it continually. She kept it always in trim 
by washing it in a fountain, and combing 
and smoothing its hair, and she amused her- 
self by adorning it with wreaths, and gar- 
lands, and such other decorations as her 
sylvan resources could command. 

One day when Ascanius, ^Eneas's son, 
who had now grown to be a 3 7 oung man, 
and who seems to have been characterized 
by a full share of the ardent and impulsive 
energy belonging to his years, was return- 
ing from the chase, he happened to pass by 
the place where the herdsman lived. As- 
canius was followed by his dogs, and he had 
his bow and arrows in his hand. As he was 
thus passing along a copse of wood, near a 
brook, the dogs came suddenly upon Sylvia's 
stag. The confiding animal, unconscious 
of any danger, had strayed away from the 
herdsman's grounds to this grove, and had 
gone down to the brook to drink. The dogs 
immediately sprang upon him, in full cry. 
Ascanius followed, drawing at the same 
time an arrow from his quiver and fitting it 
to the bow. As soon as he came in sight of 
the stag, he let fly his arrow. The arrow 
pierced the poor fugitive in the side, and in- 
flicted a dreadful wound. It did not, how- 
ever, bring him down. The stag bounded 
on down the valley toward his home, as if 
to seek protection from Sylvia. He came 
rushing into the house, marking his way 
with blood, ran to the covert which Sylvia 
had provided for his resting-place at night, 



THE LANDING IN LATIUM. 113 

and crouching down there he filled the whole 
dwelling with piteous bleatings and cries. 

As soon as Tyrrheus, the father of Sylvia, 
and the two young men, her brothers, knew 
who it was that had thus wantonly wounded 
their favorite, they were filled with indigna- 
tion and rage. They went out and aroused 
the neighboring peasantry, who very easily 
caught the spirit of resentment and revenge 
which burned in the bosoms of Tyrrheus 
and his sons. They armed themselves with 
clubs, firebrands, scythes, and such other 
rustic weapons as came to hand, and rushed 
forth, resolved to punish the overbearing 
insolence of their foreign visitors, in the 
most summary manner. 

In the mean time the Trojan youth, hav- 
ing heard the tidings of this disturbance, 
began to gather hastily, but in great num- 
bers, to defend Ascanius. The parties on 
both sides were headstrong, and highly ex- 
cited ; and before any of the older and more 
considerate chieftains could interfere, a very 
serious conflict ensued. One of the sons of 
Tyrrheus was killed. He was pierced in 
the throat by an arrow, and fell and died 
immediately. His name was Almon. He 
was but a boy, or at all events had not yet 
arrived at } r ears of maturity, and his prema- 
ture and sudden death added greatly to the 
prevailing excitement. Another man too 
was killed. At length the conflict was 
brought to an end for the time, but the ex- 
citement and the exasperation of the peasan- 



114 ROMULUS. 

try were extreme. They carried the two 
dead bodies in procession to the capital, to 
exhibit them to Latinus ; and they demanded, 
in the most earnest and determined manner, 
that he should immediately make war upon 
the whole Trojan horde, and drive them 
back into the sea, whence they came. 

Latinus found it extremely difficult to 
withstand this torrent. He remained firm 
for a time, and made every exertion in his 
power to quell the excitement and to pacify 
the minds of his people. But all was in 
vain. Public sentiment turned hopelessly 
against the Trojans, and JEneas soon found 
himself shut up in his city, surrounded with 
enemies, and left to his fate. Turnus was 
the leader of these foes. 

He, however, did not despair. Both par- 
ties began to prepare vigorously for war. 
^Eneas himself went away with a few follow- 
ers to some of the neighboring kingdoms, to 
get succor from them. Neighboring states 
are almost always jealous of each other, and 
are easily induced to take part against 
each other, when involved in foreign wars. 
JEneas found several of the Italian princes 
who were ready to aid him, and he returned 
to his camp with considerable reinforcements, 
and with promises of more. The war soon 
broke out, and was waged for a long time 
with great determination on both sides and 
with varied success. 

Latinus, who was now somewhat advanced 
in life, and had thus passed beyond the period 




Romulus, face p. IIL 

Laocoon and His Sons. (See p. 69. ) 



THE LANDING IN LATITJM. 1 15 

of ambition and love of glory, and who be- 
sides must have felt that the interest of his 
family were now indissolubly bound up in 
those of ^Eneas and Lavinia, watched the 
progress of the contest with a very uneasy 
and anxious mind. He found that for a 
time at least it would be out of his power to 
do anything effectual to terminate the war, 
so he allowed it to take its course, and con- 
tented himself with waiting patiently, in 
hopes that an occasion which would allow 
of his interposing with some hope of success, 
would sooner or later come. 

Such an occasion did come ; for after the 
war had been prosecuted for some time it 
was found, that notwithstanding the dis- 
advantages under which the Trojans labored, 
they were rather gaining than losing ground. 
There were in fact some advantages as well 
as some disadvantages in their position. 
They formed a compact and concentrated 
body, while their enemies constituted a scat- 
tered population, spreading in a more or less 
exposed condition over a considerable extent 
of country. They had neither flocks nor 
herds, nor any other property for their ene- 
mies to plunder, while the Rutulians and 
Latins had great possessions, both of treas- 
ure in the towns and of rural produce in the 
country, so that when the Trojans gained 
the victory over them in any sally or foray, 
they always came home laden with booty, 
as well as exultant in triumph and pride; 
while if the Latins conquered the Trojans in 



116 ROMULUS. 

a battle, they- had nothing but the empty- 
honor to reward them. The Trojans, too, 
were hardy, enduring, and indomitable. 
The alternative with them was victory or de- 
struction. Their protracted vo}^age, and the 
long experience of hardships and sufferings 
which they had undergone, had inured them 
to privation and toil, so that they proved to 
the Latins and Eutulians to be very obstinate 
and formidable foes. 

At length, as usual in such cases, indica- 
tions gradually appeared that both sides be- 
gan to be weary of the contest. Latinus 
availed himself of a favorable occasion which 
offered, to propose that ambassadors should 
be sent to ^Eneas with terms of peace. Tur- 
nus was very much opposed to any such 
plan. He was earnestly desirous of continu- 
ing to prosecute the war. The other Latin 
chieftains reproached him then with being 
the cause of all the calamities which they 
were enduring, and urged the unreasonable- 
ness on his part of desiring any longer to 
protract the sufferings of his unhappy 
country, merely to gratify his own private 
resentment and revenge. Turnus ought not 
any longer to ask, they said, that others should 
fight in his quarrel ; and they proposed that 
he should himself decide the question between 
him and ^Eneas, by challenging the Trojan 
leader to fight him in single combat. 

Latinus strongly disapproved of this pro- 
posal. He was weary of war and bloodshed, 
and wished that the conflict might wholly 



THE FLIGHT OF .ENEAS. 89 

come by chance. They are all ordered by 
an overruling providence that is omnipotent 
and divine. It was predetermined by the 
decrees of heaven that you were not to take 
me with you in your flight. I have learned 
what your future destiny is to' be. There is 
a long period of weary wandering before 
you, over the ocean and on the land, and 
you will have many difficulties, dangers, and 
trials to incur. You will, however, be con- 
ducted safely through them all, and will in 
the end find a peaceful and happy home on 
the banks of the Tiber. There you will 
found a new kingdom ; a princess is even 
now provided for you there, to become your 
bride. Cease then to mourn for me ; rather 
rejoice that I did not fall a captive into the 
hands of our enemies, to be carried away 
into Greece and made a slave. I am free, 
and you must not lament my fate. Fare- 
well. Love Ascanius for my sake, and 
watch over him and protect him as long as 
you live." 

Having spoken these words, the vision 
began to disappear. ^Eneas endeavored to 
clasp the beloved image in his arms to retain 
it, but it was intangible and evanescent, and, 
before he could speak to it, it was gone, and 
he was left standing in the desolate and 
gloomy street alone. He turned at length 
slowly away ; and solitary, thoughtful and 
sad, he went back to the gate of the city, and 
thence out to the valley where he had con- 
cealed Anchises and his little son. 

/ — Romulus 



90 BOMULUS. 

He found them safe. The whole party 
then sought places of retreat among the glens 
and mountains, where they could remain 
concealed a few days, while ^Eneas and his 
companions could make arrangements for 
abandoning the country altogether. These 
arrangements were soon completed. As soon 
as the Greeks had retired, so that they could 
come out without danger from their place of 
retreat, ^Eneas employed his men in building 
a number of small vessels, fitting them, as 
was usual in those days, both with sails and 
oars. 

During the progress of these preparations, 
small parties of Trojans were coming in con- 
tinually, day by day, to join him ; being 
drawn successively from their hiding-places 
among the mountains, by hearing that the 
Greeks had gone away, and that Jfineas was 
gradually assembling the remnant of the 
Trojans on the shore. The numbers thus 
collected at ^Eneas's encampment gradually 
increased, and as iEneas enlarged and ex- 
tended his naval preparations to correspond 
with the augmenting numbers of his ad- 
herents, he found when he was ready to set 
sail, that he w r as at the head of a very re- 
spectable naval and military force. 

When the fleet at last was ready, he put a 
stock of provisions on board, and embarked 
his men, — taking, of course, Anchises and 
Ascanius with him. As soon as a favorable 
wind arose, the expedition set sail. As the 
vessels moved slowly away, the decks were 



THE FLIGHT OF AENEAS. 



91 



covered with men and women, who gazed 
mournfully at the receding shores, conscious 
that they were bidding a final farewell to 
their native land. 

The nearest country within reach in leav- 
ing the Trojan coast, was Thrace — a country 
lying north of the Egean Sea, and of the 
Propontis, being separated, in fact, in one 
part, from the Trojan territories, only by 




Wanderings op iENEAs. 

the Hellespont. ^Eneas turned his course 
northward toward this country, and, after a 
short voyage, landed there, and attempted 
to make a settlement. He was, however, 
prevented from remaining Jong, by a dread- 
ful prodigy which he witnessed there, and 
which induced him to leave those shores 
very precipitously. The prodigy was this: 
They had erected an altar on the shore, 
after they had landed, and were preparing 
to offer the sacrifices customary on such oo 



92 EOMULUS. 

casions, when ^neas, wishing to shade the 
altar with boughs, went to a myrtle bush 
which was growing near, and began to pull 
up the green shoots from the ground. To 
his astonishment and horror, he found that 
blood flowed from the roots whenever they 
were broken. Drops of what appeared to 
be human blood would ooze from the rup- 
tured part as he held the shoot in his hand, 
and fall slowly to the ground. He was 
greatly terrified at this spectacle, consider- 
ing it as some omen of very dreadful import. 
He immediately and instinctively offered up 
a prayer to the presiding deities of the land, 
that they would avert from him the evil in- 
fluences, whatever they might be, which 
the omen seemed to portend, or that they 
would at least explain the meaning of the 
prodigy. After offering this prayer, he 
took hold of another stem of the myrtle, 
and attempted to draw it from the ground, 
in order to see whether any change in the 
appearances exhibited by the prodigy had 
been effected by his prayer. At the instant, 
however, when the roots began to give 
way, he heard a groan coming up from 
the ground below, as if from a person in 
suffering. Immediately afterward a voice, 
in a mournful and sepulchral accent, began 
to beg him to go away, and cease disturbing 
the repose of the dead. " What you are 
tearing and lacerating," said the voice, " is 
not a tree, but a man. I am Polydorus. I 
was killed by the king of Thrace, and in- 



THE FLIGHT OF ^ENEAS. 93 

stead of burial, have been turned into a 
myrtle growing on the shore." 

Polydorus was a Trojan prince. He was 
the youngest son of Priam, and had been 
sent some years before to Thrace, to be 
brought up in the court of the Thracian king. 
He had been provided with a large supply 
of money and treasures when he left Troy, 
in order that all his wants might be abun- 
dantly supplied, and that he might maintain, 
during his absence from home, the position 
to which his rank as a Trojan prince entitled 
him. His treasures, however, w r hich had 
been provided for him by his father as his 
sure reliance for support and protection, 
became the occasion of his ruin — for the 
Thracian king, when he found that the war 
was going against the Trojans, and that 
Priam the father was slain, and the city 
destroyed, murdered the helpless son to get 
possession of his gold. 

iEneas and his companions were shocked 
to hear this story, and perceived at once 
that Thrace was no place of safety for them. 
They resolved immediately to leave the 
coast and seek their fortunes in other regions. 
They, however, first, in secrecy and silence, 
but w r ith great solemnity, performed those 
funeral rites for Polydorus which were con- 
sidered in those ages essential to the repose 
of the dead. When these mournful cere- 
monies were ended they embarked on board 
their ships again and sailed away. 

After this, the party of JEneas spent 



94 ROMULUS. 

many months in weary voyages from island 
to island, and from shore to shore, along 
the Mediterranean sea, encountering every 
imaginable difficulty and danger, and meet- 
ing continually -with the strangest and most 
romantic adventures. At one time, they 
were misled by a mistaken interpretation of 
prophecy to attempt a settlement in Crete 
— a green and beautiful island lying south 
of the Egean sea. They had applied to a 
sacred oracle, which had its seat at a cer- 
tain consecrated spot which they visited in 
the course of their progress southward 
through the Egean sea, asking the oracle to 
direct them where to go in order to find a 
settled home. The oracle, in answer to 
their request, informed them that they were 
to go to the land that their ancestors had 
originally come from, before their settle- 
ment in Troy. ^Eneas applied to Anchises 
to inform them w T hat land this w^as. An- 
chises replied, that he thought it was Crete. 
There was an ancient tradition, he said, that 
some distinguished men among the ancestors 
of the Trojans had originated in Crete ; and 
he presumed accordingly that that was the 
land to which the oracle referred. 

The course of the little fleet was accord- 
ingly directed southward, and in due time 
the expedition safely reached the island of 
Crete, and landed there. They immediately 
commenced the work of effecting a settle- 
ment. They drew the ships up upon the 
shore ; they laid out a city ; they inclosed 




Romulus, face p. 'jj. 



The Wooden Horse. (Seep. 61.) 



THE FLIGHT OF ^ENEAS. 95 

and planted fields, and began to build their 
bouses. In a short time, however, all their 
bright prospects of rest and security were 
blighted by the breaking out of a dreadful 
pestilence among them. Many died ; others 
who still lived, were utterly prostrated by 
the effects of the disease, and crawled about, 
emaciated and wretched, a miserable and 
piteous spectacle to behold. To crown their 
misfortunes, a great drought came on. The 
grain which they had planted was dried up 
and killed in the fields ; and thus, in addition 
to the horrors of pestilence, they were threat- 
ened w T ith the still greater horrors of 
famine. Their distress was extreme, and 
they were utterly at a loss to know what 
to do. 

In this extremity Anchises recommended 
that they should send back to the oracle to 
inquire more particularly in respect to the 
meaning of the former response, in order to 
ascertain whether they had, by possibility, 
misinterpreted it, and made their settlement 
on the wrong ground. Or, if this was not 
the case, to learn by what other error or 
fault they had displeased the celestial powers, 
and brought upon themselves such terrible 
judgments. ^Eneas determined to adopt 
this advice, but he was prevented from carry- 
ing his intentions into effect by the follow- 
ing occurrence. 

One night he was lying upon his couch 
in his dwelling, — so harassed by his anxie- 
ties and cares that he could not sleep, and 



96 KOMULUS. 

revolving in his mind all possible plans for 
extricating himself and his followers from 
the difficulties which environed them. The 
moon shone in at the windows, and by the 
light of this luminary he saw r , reposing in 
their shrines in the opposite side of the apart- 
ment where he was sleeping, the household 
images which he had rescued from the 
flames of Troy. As he looked upon these 
divinities in the still and solemn hour of 
midnight, oppressed with anxiety and care, 
one of them began to address him. 

" We are commissioned," said this super- 
natural voice, " by Apollo, whose oracle you 
are intending to consult again, to give you 
the answer that you desire, without requir- 
ing you to go back to his temple. It is true 
that you have erred in attempting to make 
a settlement in Crete. This is not the land 
which is destined to be your home. You 
must leave these shores, and continue your 
voyage. The land which is destined to re- 
ceive you is Italy, a land far removed from 
this spot, and your way to it lies over wide 
and boisterous seas. Do not be discouraged, 
however, on this account, or on account of 
the calamities which now impend over you. 
You w 7 ill be prospered in the end. You will 
reach Italy in safety, and there you will lay 
the foundations of a mighty empire, w T hich 
in days to come will extend its dominion far 
and wide among the nations of the earth. 
Take courage, then, and embark once more 
in your ships with a cheerful and confident 



THE FLIGHT OF ^ENEAS. 97 

heart. You are safe, and in the end all will 
turn out well." 

The strength and spirits of the desponding 
adventurer were very essentially revived by 
this encouragement. He immediately pre- 
pared to obey the injunctions which had 
been thus divinely communicated to him, 
and in a short time the half -built city was 
abandoned, and the expedition once more 
embarked on board the fleet and proceeded 
to sea. They met in their subsequent wan- 
derings with a great variety of adventures, 
but it would extend this portion of our nar- 
rative too far, to relate them all. They en- 
countered a storm by which for three days 
and three nights they were tossed to and fro, 
without seeing sun or stars, and of course 
without any guidance whatever ; and during 
all this time they were in the most imminent 
danger of being overwhelmed and destroyed 
by the billows which rolled sublimely and 
frightfully around them. At another time, 
having landed for rest and refreshment 
among a group of Grecian islands, they were 
attacked by the harpies, birds of prey of 
prodigious size and most offensive habits, 
and fierce and voracious beyond description. 
The harpies were celebrated, in fact, in many 
of the ancient tales, as a race of beings that 
infested certain shores, and often teased and 
tormented the mariners and adventurers that 
happened to come among them. Some said, 
however, that there was not a race of such 
beings, but only two or three in all, and they 



98 BOMULUS. 

gave their names. And yet different nar- 
rators gave different names, among which 
were Aelopos, Nicothoe, Ocythoe Ocypoae, 
Celaeno, Acholoe, and Aello. Some said 
that the harpies had the faces and forms of 
women. Others described them as fright- 
fully ugly; but all agree in representing 
them as voracious beyond description, always 
greedily devouring everything that they 
could get within reach of their claws. 

These fierce monsters flew down upon 
^Eneas and his party, and carried away the 
food from off the table before them; and 
even attacked the men themselves. The 
men then armed themselves with swords, 
secretly, and waited for the next approach 
of the harpies, intending to kill them, when 
they came near. But the nimble marauders 
eluded all their blows, and escaped with their 
plunder as before. At length the expedition 
was driven away from the island altogether, 
by these ravenous fowls, and when they 
were embarking on board of their vessels, 
the leader of the harpies perched herself 
upon a rock overlooking the scene, and in a 
human voice loaded JEneas and his com- 
panions, as they went away, with taunts and 
execrations. 

The expedition passed one night in great 
terror and dread in the vicinity of Mount 
Etna, where they had landed. The awful 
eruptions of smoke, and flame, and burning 
lava, which issued at midnight from the sum- 
mit of the mountain, — the thundering sounds 



THE FLIGHT OF AENEAS. 99 

which they heard rolling beneath them, 
through the ground, and the dread which 
was inspired in their minds by the terrible 
monsters that dwelt beneath the mountains, 
as they supposed, and fed the fires, all com- 
bined to impress them with a sense of unut- 
terable awe ; and as soon as the light of the 
morning enabled them to resume their course, 
they made all haste to get away from so 
appalling a scene. At another time they 
touched upon a coast which was inhabited 
by a race of one-eyed giants, — monsters of 
enormous magnitude and of remorseless 
cruelty. They were cannibals, — feeding on 
the bodies of men whom they killed by grasp- 
ing them in their hands and beating them 
against the rocks which formed the sides of 
their den. Some men whom one of these 
monsters named Polyphemus, had shut up 
in his cavern, contrived to surprise their 
keeper in his sleep, and though they were 
wholly unable to kill him on account of his 
colossal magnitude, they succeeded in put- 
ting out his eye, and JSneas and his com- 
panions saw the blinded giant, as they passed 
along the coast, wading in the sea, and bath- 
ing his wound. He was guiding his footsteps 
as he walked, by means of the trunk of a 
tall pine which served him for a staff. 

At length, however, after the lapse of a 
long period of time, and after meeting with 
a great variety of adventures to which we can 
not even here allude, ^Eneas and his party 
reached the shores of Italy, at the point 

Lore. 



100 



ROMULUS. 



which by divine intimations had been pointed 
out to them as the place where they were to 
land. 

The story of the life and adventures of 
^Eneas, which we have given in this and in 
the preceding chapters, is a faithful summary 
of the narrative which the poetic historians 




The Harpies. 

of those days recorded. It is, of course, not 
to be relied upon as a narrative of facts ; but 
it is worthy of very special attention by 
every cultivated mind of the present day, 
from the fact, that such is the beauty, the 
grace, the melody, the inimitable poetic 
perfection with which the story is told, in 
the language in which the original record 
stands, that the narrative has made a more 
deep, and widespread, and lasting impression 
upon the human mind than any other narra- 
tive perhaps that ever was penned. 




CHAPTEE VI. 

THE LANDING IN LATIUM. 

Latittm was the name given to an ancient 
province of Italy, lying south of the Tiber. 
At the time of ^Eneas's arrival upon the coast 
it was an independent kingdom. The name 
of the king who reigned over it at this period 
was Latinus. 

The country on the banks of the Tiber, 
where the city of Rome afterward arose, 
was then a wild but picturesque rural region, 
consisting of hills and valleys, occupied by 
shepherds and husbandmen, but with noth- 
ing upon it whatever, to mark it as the site 
of a city. The people that dwelt in Latium 
were shepherds and herdsmen, though there 
was a considerable band of warriors under 
the command of the king. The inhabitants 
of the country were of Greek origin, and they 
had brought with them from Greece, when 
they colonized the country, such rude arts 
as were then known. They had the use of 
Cadmus's letters, for writing, so far as writ- 
ing was employed at all in those early days. 
They were skilful in making such weapons 
of war, and such simple instruments of music, 
as were known at the time, and they could 

101 



102 ROMULUS. 

erect buildings, of wood, or of stone, and 
thus constructed such dwellings as they 
needed, in their towns, and walls and citadels 
for defense. 

JEneas brought his fleet into the mouth of 
the Tiber, and anchored it there. He him- 
self, and all his followers were thoroughly 
weary of their wanderings, and hoped that 
they were now about to land where they 
should find a permanent abode. The number 
of ships and men that had formed the expedi- 
tion at the commencement of the voyage, 
was very large ; but it had been considerably 
diminished by the various misfortunes and 
accidents incident to such an enterprise, and 
the remnant that was left longed ardently 
for rest. Some of the ships took fire, and 
were burned at their moorings in the Tiber, 
immediately after the arrival of the expedi- 
tion. It was said that they were set on 
fire by the wives and mothers belonging to 
the expedition, — who wished, by destroying 
the ships, to render it impossible for the fleet 
to go to sea again. 

However this may be, iEneas was very 
strongly disposed to make the beautiful re- 
gion which he now saw before him, his final 
home. The country, in every aspect of it, 
was alluring in the highest degree. Level 
plains, varied here and there by gentle ele- 
vations, extended around him, all adorned 
with groves and flowers, and exhibiting a 
luxuriance in the verdure of the grass and 
in the foliage of the trees that was perfectly 



THE LANDING IN LATIUM. 



103 



enchanting to the sea-weary eyes of his 
company of mariners. In the distance, blue 
and beautiful mountains bounded the hori- 
zon, and a soft, warm summer haze floated 
over the whole scene, bathing the landscape 




HAfiissa 



Map of Latium. 

in a rich mellow light peculiar to Italian 
skies. 

As soon as the disembarkation was effect- 
ed, lines of encampment were marked out, 
at a suitable place on the shore, arid such 
simple fortifications as were necessary for 
defense in such a case, were thrown up. 
iEneas despatched one party in boats to 

8 — Romulus 



104 KOMULUS. 

explore the various passages and channels 
which formed the mouth of the river, per- 
haps in order to be prepared to make good 
his escape again, to sea, in case of any sud- 
den or extraordinary danger. Another 
party were employed in erecting altars, and 
preparing for sacrifices and other religious 
celebrations, designed on the part of iEneas 
to propitiate the deities of the place, and to 
inspire his men with religious confidence 
and trust. He also immediately proceeded 
to organize a party of reconnoiterers who 
were to proceed into the interior, to explore 
the country and to communicate with the 
inhabitants. 

The party of reconnoiterers thus sent out 
followed up the banks of the river, and 
made excursions in various directions across 
the fields and plains. They found that the 
country was everywhere verdant and beau- 
tiful, and that it was covered in the interior 
with scattered hamlets and towns. They 
learned the name of the king, and also that 
of the city which he made his capitol. La- 
tinus himself at the same time, heard the 
tidings of the arrival of these strangers. 
His first impulse was immediately to make 
an onset upon them with all his forces, and 
drive them away from his shores. On far- 
ther inquiry, however, he learned that they 
were in a distressed and suffering condition, 
and from the descriptions which were given 
him of their dress and demeanor he con- 
cluded that they were Greeks. This idea 



THE LANDING IN LATIUM. 105 

awakened in his mind some apprehension ; 
for the Greeks were then well known 
throughout the world, and were regarded 
everywhere as terrible enemies. Besides his 
fears, his pity and compassion were awak- 
ened, too, in some degree ; and he was on 
the whole for a time quite at a loss to know 
what course to pursue in respect to the in- 
truders. 

In the mean time iEneas concluded to 
send an embassy to Latinus to explain the 
circumstances under Avhich he had been in- 
duced to land so large a party on the Italian 
coast. He accordingly designated a consid- 
erable number of men to form this embassy, 
and owing to some of the number his in- 
structions as to what they were to say to 
Latinus, he committed to the hands of the 
others a large number of gifts which they 
were to carry and present to him. These 
gifts consisted of weapons elaborately fin- 
ished, vessels of gold or silver, embroidered 
garments, and such other articles as were 
customarily employed in those days as pro- 
pitiatory offerings in such emergencies. 
The embassy when all was arranged pro- 
ceeded to the Latian capital. 

When they came in sight of it they found 
that it was a spacious city, with walls 
around it, and turrets and battlements 
within, rising here and there above the 
roofs of the dwellings. Outside the gates a 
portion of the population were assembled 
busily engaged in games, and in various 



106 ROMULUS. 

gymnastic and equestrian performances. 
Some were driving furiously in chariots 
around great circles marked out for the 
course. Others were practising feats of 
horsemanship, or running races upon fleet 
chargers. Others still were practising with 
darts, or bows and arrows, or javelins ; 
either to test and improve their individual 
skill, or else to compete with each other for 
victory or for a prize. The ambassadors 
paused when they came in view of this scene, 
and waited until intelligence could be sent 
in to the monarch, informing him of their 
arrival. 

Latinus decided immediately to admit the 
embassy to an audience, and they were ac- 
cordingly conducted into the city. They 
were led, after entering by the gates, through 
various streets, until they came at length 
to a large public edifice, which seemed to 
be, at the same time, palace, senate-house, 
and citadel. There were to be seen, in the 
avenues which led to this edifice, statues of 
old warriors, and various other martial 
decorations. There were many old trophies 
of former victories preserved here, such as 
arms, and chariots, and prows of ships, and 
crests, and great bolts and bars taken from 
the gates of conquered cities, — all old, war- 
worn, and now useless, but preserved as 
memorials of bravery and conquest. The 
Trojan embassy, passing through and among 
these trophies, as they stood or hung in the 
halls and vestibules of the palace, were at 



THE LANDING IN LATIUM. 107 

length ushered into the presence of Latinus 
the king. 

Here, after the usual ceremonies of intro- 
duction were performed, they delivered the 
message which JEneas had intrusted to 
them. They declared that they had not 
landed on Latinus's shore with any hostile 
intent. They had been driven away, they 
said, from their own homes, by a series of 
dire calamities, which had ended, at last, in 
the total destruction of their native city. 
Since then they had been driven to and fro 
at the mercy of the winds and waves, exposed 
to every conceivable degree of hardship and 
danger. Their landing finally, in the domin- 
ions of Latinus in Italy, was not, they con- 
fessed, wholly undesigned, for Latium had 
been divinely indicated to them, on their 
way, as the place destined by the decrees of 
heaven for their final home. Following 
these indications, they had sought the shores 
of Italy and the mouths of the Tiber, and 
having succeeded in reaching them, had 
landed ; and now JEneas, their commander, 
desired of the king that he would allow 
them to settle in his land in peace, and that 
he would set apart a portion of his territory 
for them, and give them leave to build a 
city. 

The effect produced upon the mind of La- 
tinus by the appearance of these ambas- 
sadors, and by the communication which 
they made to him, proved to be highly 
favorable. He received the presents, too, 



108 BOMULUS. 

which they had brought him, in a very 
gracious manner, and appeared to be much 
pleased with them. He had heard, as would 
seem, rumors of the destruction of Troy 9 
and of the departure of ^Eneas's squadron ; 
for a long time had been consumed by the 
wanderings of the expedition along the 
Mediterranean shores, so that some years 
had now elapsed since the destruction of 
Troy and the first sailing of the fleet. In a 
word, Latinus soon determined to accede to 
the proposals of his visitors, and he concluded 
with ^Eneas a treaty of alliance and friend- 
ship. He designated a spot where the new 
city might be built, and all things were thus 
amicably settled. 

There was one circumstance which exerted 
a powerful influence in promoting the estab- 
lishment of friendly relations between La- 
tinus and the Trojans, and that was, that 
Latinus was engaged, at the time of ^Eneas's 
arrival, in a war with the Rutulians, a 
nation that inhabited a country lying south 
of Latium and on the coast. Latinus thought 
that by making the Trojans his friends, he 
should be able to enlist them as his auxiliaries 
in this war. iEneas made no objection to 
this, and it was accordingly agreed that the 
Trojans, in return for being received as 
friends, and allowed to settle in Latium, 
were to join with their protectors in defend- 
ing the country, and were especially to aid 
them in prosecuting the existing war. 

In a short time a still closer alliance was 



THE LANDING IN LATIUM. 109 

formed between ^Eneas and Latinus, an alli- 
ance which in the end resulted in the ac- 
cession of ^Eneas to the throne of Latinus. 
Latinus had a daughter named Lavinia. She 
was an only child, and was a princess of ex- 
traordinary merit and beauty. The name 
of the queen, her mother, the wife of La- 
tinus, was Amata. Amata had intended 
her daughter to be the wife of Turnus, a 
young prince of great character and promise, 
who had been brought up in Latinus's court. 
Turnus was, in fact, a distant relative of 
Amata, and the plan of the queen was that 
he should marry Lavinia, and in the end 
succeed with her, to the throne of Latinus. 
Latinus himself had not entered into this 
scheme ; and when closing his negotiations 
with iEneas, it seemed to him that it would 
be well to seal and secure the adherence of 
./Eneas to his cause by offering him his 
daughter Lavinia for his bride. JEneas was 
very willing to accede to this proposal. 
What the wishes of Lavinia herself were in 
respect to the arrangement, it is not very 
well known ; nor were her wishes, according 
to the ideas that prevailed in those times, 
of any consequence whatever, The plan 
was arranged, and the nuptials were soon 
to be celebrated. Turnus, when he found 
that he was to be superseded, left the court 
of Latinus, and went away out of the country 
in a rage. 

JEneas and his followers seemed now to 
have come to the end of all their troubles. 



110 ROMULUS. 

They were at last happily established in 
a fruitful land, surrounded by powerful 
friends, and about to enter apparently upon 
a long career of peaceful and prosperous in- 
dustry. They immediately engaged with 
great ardor in the work of building their 
town. JEneas had intended to have named 
it Troy, in commemoration of the ancient 
city now no more. But, in view of his 
approaching marriage with Lavinia, he de- 
termined to change this design, and, in 
honor of her, to name the new capital Lav- 
inium. 

The territory which had been assigned to 
the Trojans by Latinus was in the south- 
western part of Latium, near the coast, and 
of course it was on the confines of the coun- 
try of the Rutulians. Turnus, when he left 
Latium, went over to the Rutulians, deter- 
mining, in his resentment against Latinus 
for having given Lavinia to his rival, to join 
them in the war. The Rutulians made him 
their leader, and he soon advanced at the 
head of a great army across the frontier, 
toward the new city of Lavinium. Thus 
iEneas found himself threatened with a very 
formidable danger. 

Nor was this all. For just before the 
commencement of the war with Turnus, an 
extraordinary train of circumstances oc- 
curred which resulted in alienating the 
Latins themselves from their new ally, and 
in leaving iEneas consequently to sustain 
the shock of the contest with Turnus and 



THE LANDING IN LATIUM. Ill 

his Rutulians alone. It would naturally be 
supposed that the alliance between Latinus 
and ^Eneas would not be very favorably 
regarded by the common people of Latium. 
They would, on the other hand, naturally 
look with much jealousy and distrust on a 
company of foreign intruders, admitted by 
what they would be very likely to consider 
the capricious partiality of their king, to a 
share of their country. This jealousy and 
distrust was, for a time, suppressed and con- 
cealed ; but the animosity only acquired 
strength and concentration by being re- 
strained, and at length an event occurred 
which caused it to break forth with uncon- 
trollable fury. The circumstances were 
these : 

There was a man in Latium named Tyr- 
rheus, who held the office of royal herdsman. 
He lived in his hut on some of the domains 
of Latinus, and had charge of the flocks 
and herds belonging to the king. He had 
two sons, and likewise a daughter. The 
daughter's name, was Sylvia. The two 
boys had one day succeeded in making pris- 
oner of a young stag, which they found in 
the woods with its mother. It was extremely 
young when they captured it, and they 
brought it home as a great prize. They 
fed it with milk until it was old enough to 
take other food, and as it grew up accus- 
tomed to their hands, it was very tame and 
docile, and became a great favorite with all 
the family. Sylvia loved and played with 



112 HOMULUS. 

it continually. She kept it always in trim 
by washing it in a fountain, and combing 
and smoothing its hair, and she amused her- 
self by adorning it with wreaths, and gar- 
lands, and such other decorations as her 
sylvan resources could command. 

One day when Ascanius, JEneas's son, 
who had now grown to be a young man, 
and who seems to have been characterized 
by a full share of the ardent and impulsive 
energy belonging to his years, was return- 
ing from the chase, he happened to pass by 
the place where the herdsman lived. As- 
canius was followed by his dogs, and he had 
his bow and arrows in his hand. As he was 
thus passing along a copse of wood, near a 
brook, the dogs came suddenly upon Sylvia's 
stag. The confiding animal, unconscious 
of any danger, had strayed away from the 
herdsman's grounds to this grove, and had 
gone down to the brook to drink. The dogs 
immediately sprang upon him, in full cry. 
Ascanius followed, drawing at the same 
time an arrow from his quiver and fitting it 
to the bow. As soon as he came in sight of 
the stag, he let fly his arrow. The arrow" 
pierced the poor fugitive in the side, and in- 
flicted a dreadful wound. It did not, how- 
ever, bring him down. The stag bounded 
on down the valley toward his home, as if 
to seek protection from Sylvia. He came 
rushing into the house, marking his way 
with blood, ran to the covert which Sylvia 
had provided for his resting-place at night, 



THE LANDING IN LATIUM. 113 

and crouching down there he filled the whole 
dwelling with piteous bleatings and cries. 

As soon as Tyrrheus, the father of Sylvia, 
and the two young men, her brothers, knew 
who it was that had thus wantonly wounded 
their favorite, they were filled w^ith indigna- 
tion and rage. They went out and aroused 
the neighboring peasantry, who very easily 
caught the spirit of resentment and revenge 
which burned in the bosoms of Tyrrheus 
and his sons. They armed themselves with 
clubs, firebrands, scythes, and such other 
rustic weapons as came to hand, and rushed 
forth, resolved to punish the overbearing 
insolence of their foreign visitors, in the 
most summary manner. 

In the mean time the Trojan youth, hav- 
ing heard the tidings of this disturbance, 
began to gather hastily, but in great num- 
bers, to defend Ascanius. The parties on 
both sides were headstrong, and highly ex- 
cited ; and before any of the older and more 
considerate chieftains could interfere, a very 
serious conflict ensued. One of the sons of 
Tyrrheus was killed. He was pierced in 
the throat by an arrow, and fell and died 
immediately. His name was Almon. He 
was but a boy, or at all events had not yet 
arrived at years of maturity, and his prema- 
ture and sudden death added greatly to the 
prevailing excitement. Another man too 
was killed. At length the conflict was 
brought to an end for the time, but the ex- 
citement and the exasperation of the peasan- 



114 ROMULUS. 

try were extreme. They carried the two 
dead bodies in procession to the capital, to 
exhibit thero. to Latinus ; and they demanded, 
in the most earnest and determined manner, 
that he should immediately make war upon 
the whole Trojan horde, and drive them 
back into the sea, whence they came. 

Latinus found it extremely difficult to 
withstand this torrent. He remained firm 
for a time, and made every exertion in his 
power to quell the excitement and to pacify 
the minds of his people. But all was in 
vain. Public sentiment turned hopelessly 
against the Trojans, and ^Eneas soon found 
himself shut up in his city, surrounded with 
enemies, and left to his fate. Turnus was 
the leader of these foes. 

He, however, did not despair. Both par- 
ties began to prepare vigorously for war. 
^Eneas himself went away with a few follow- 
ers to some of the neighboring kingdoms, to 
get succor from them. Neighboring states 
are almost always jealous of each other, and 
are easily induced to take part against 
each other, when involved in foreign wars. 
^Eneas found several of the Italian princes 
who were ready to aid him, and he returned 
to his camp with considerable reinforcements, 
and with promises of more. The war soon 
broke out, and was waged for a long time 

7 O © 

with great determination on both sides and 
with varied success. 

Latinus, who was now somewhat advanced 
in life, and had thus passed beyond the period 




Romulus, face p. 1 1 U 

Laocoon and His Sons. (See p. 69. ) 



THE LANDING IN LATIUM. 115 

of ambition and love of glory, and who be- 
sides must have felt that the interest of his 
family were now indissolubly bound up in 
those of ^Eneas and Lavinia, watched the 
progress of the contest with a very uneasy 
and anxious mind. He found that for a 
time at least it would be out of his power to 
do anything effectual to terminate the war, 
so he allowed it to take its course, and con- 
tented himself with waiting patiently, in 
hopes that an occasion which would allow 
of his interposing with some hope of success, 
would sooner or later come. 

Such an occasion did come ; for after the 
war had been prosecuted for some time it 
was found, that notwithstanding the dis- 
advantages under which the Trojans labored, 
they were rather gaining than losing ground. 
There were in fact some advantages as well 
as some disadvantages in their position. 
They formed a compact and concentrated 
body, while their enemies constituted a scat- 
tered population, spreading in a more or less 
exposed condition over a considerable extent 
of country. They had neither flocks nor 
herds, nor any other property for their ene- 
mies to plunder, while the Eutulians and 
Latins had great possessions, both of treas- 
ure in the towns and of rural produce in the 
country, so that when the Trojans gained 
the victory over them in any sally or foray, 
they always came home laden with booty, 
as well as exultant in triumph and pride; 
while if the Latins conquered the Trojans in 



116 ROMULUS. 

a battle, they had nothing but the empty 
honor to reward them. The Trojans, too, 
were hardy, enduring, and indomitable. 
The alternative with them was victory or de- 
struction. Their protracted voyage, and the 
long experience of hardships and sufferings 
which they had undergone, had inured them 
to privation and toil, so that they proved to 
the Latins and Rutulians to be very obstinate 
and formidable foes. 

At length, as usual in such cases, indica- 
tions gradually appeared that both sides be- 
gan to be weary of the contest. Latinus 
availed himself of a favorable occasion which 
offered, to propose that ambassadors should 
be sent to JiCneas with terms of peace. Tur- 
nus was very much opposed to any such 
plan. He was earnestly desirous of continu- 
ing to prosecute the war. The other Latin 
chieftains reproached him then with being 
the cause of all the calamities which they 
were enduring, and urged the unreasonable- 
ness on his part of desiring any longer to 
protract the sufferings of his unhappy 
country, merely to gratify his own private 
resentment and revenge. Turnus ought not 
any longer to ask, they said, that others should 
fight in his quarrel ; and they proposed that 
he should himself decide the question between 
him and ^Eneas, by challenging the Trojan 
leader to fight him in single combat. 

Latinus strongly disapproved of this pro- 
posal. He was weary of war and bloodshed, 
and wished that the conflict might wholly 



THE LANDING IN LATIUM. 117 

cease ; and he urged that peace should be 
made with^Eneas, and that his original design 
of giving him Lavinia for his wife should 
be carried into execution. For a moment 
Turnus seemed to hesitate, but in looking to- 
wards Lavinia who, with Amata her mother, 
was present at this consultation, he saw, or 
thought he saw, in the agitation which she 
manifested, proofs of her love for him, and 
indications of a wish on her part that he and 
not ^Eneas should win her for his bride. 

He accordingly without any farther hesita- 
tion or delay agreed to the proposal of the 
counselor. The challenge to single combat 
was given and accepted, and on the appointed 
day the ground was marked out for the duel, 
and both armies were drawn up upon the 
field, to be spectators of the fight. 

After the usual preparation the conflict 
began ; but, as frequently occurs in such cases, 
it was not long confined to the single pair 
of combatants with which it commenced. 
Others were gradually drawn in, and the duel 
became in the end a general battle. iEneas 
and the Trojans were victorious, and both 
Latinus and Turnus were slain. This ended 
the war. JEneas married Lavinia, and 
thenceforth reigned with her over the king- 
dom of Latium as its rightful sovereign. 

^Eneas lived several years after this, and 
has the credit, in history, of having man- 
aged the affairs of the kingdom in a very 
wise and provident manner. He had 
brought with him from Troy the arts and 

9 — Romulus 



118 KOMULTJS. 

the learning of the Greeks, and these he in- 
troduced to his people so as greatly to im- 
prove their condition. He introduced, too, 
many ceremonies of religious worship, which 
had prevailed in the countries from which he 
had come, or in those which he had visited 
in his long voyage. These ceremonies be- 
came at last so firmly established among the 
religious observances of the inhabitants of 
Latium, that they descended from genera- 
tion to generation, and in subsequent years 
exercised great influence, in modeling the 
religious faith and worship of the Roman 
people. They thus continued to be prac- 
tised for many ages, and, through the litera- 
ture of the Romans, became subsequently 
known and celebrated throughout the w r hole 
civilized world. 

At length, in a war which ^Eneas was wag- 
ing with the Rutulians, he was once, after a 
battle, reduced to great extremity of danger, 
and in order to escape from his pursuers he 
attempted to swim across a stream, and was 
drowned. The name of this stream was 
Numicius. It flowed into the sea a little 
north of Lavinium. It must have been 
larger in former times than it is now, for 
travelers who visit it at the present day say 
that it is now only a little rivulet, in which 
it would be almost impossible for any one to 
be drowned. 

The Trojan followers of ^Eneas concealed 
his body, and spread the story among the 
people of Latium that he had been taken up 



THE LANDING IN LATIUM. 



119 



to heaven. The people accordingly, having 
before considered their king as the son of a 




.Eneas Relating His Story. 

goddess, now looked upon him as himself 
divine. They accordingly erected altars to 
him in Latium, and thenceforth worshiped 
him as a God. 




CHAPTER VIL 

RHEA SILVIA. 

Rhea Silvia, the mother of Romulus, was 
a vestal virgin, who lived in the kingdom of 
Latium about four hundred years after the 
death of ^Eneas. A vestal virgin was a sort 
of priestess, who was required, like the nuns 
of modern times, to live in seclusion from 
the rest of the world, and devote their time 
wholly and without reserve to the services 
of religion. They were, like nuns, especially 
prohibited from all association and inter- 
course with men. 

iEneas himself is said to have founded the 
order of vestal virgins, and to have instituted 
the rites and services which were committed 
to their charge. These rites and services 
were in honor of Yesta, who was .the god- 
dess of Home. The fireside has been, in all 
ages and countries, the center and the sym- 
bol of home, and the worship of Vesta con- 
sisted, accordingly, of ceremonies designed 
to dignify and exalt the fireside in the esti- 
mation of the people. Instead of the images 
and altars which were used in the worship 
of the other deities, a representation of a 
f/re-stcmd was made, such as were used in the 
120 



BHEA SILVIA. 121 

houses of those days ; and upon this sacred 
stand a fire was kept continually burning, 
and various rites and ceremonies were per- 
formed in connection with it, in honor of the 
domestic virtues and enjoyments, of which 
it was the type and symbol. 

These fire-stands, as used by the ancients, 
were very different from the fireplaces of 
modern times, which are recesses in chimneys 
with flues above for the passage of the 
smoke. The household fires of the ancients 
were placed in the center of the apartment, 
on a hearth or supporter called the focus. 
This hearth was made sometimes of stone or 
brick, and sometimes of bronze. The smoke 
escaped above, through openings in the roof. 
This would seem, according to the ideas of 
the present day, a very comfortless arrange- 
ment; but it must be remembered that the 
climate in those countries was mild, and 
there was accordingly but little occasion for 
fire ; and then, besides, such were the habits 
of the people at this period of the world, 
that not only their pursuits and avocations, 
but far the greater portion of their pleas- 
ures, called them into the open air. Still, 
the fireplace was, with them as with us, the 
type and emblem of domestic life ; and, ac- 
cordingly, in paying divine honors to Vesta, 
the goddess of Home, they set up a focus, 
or fireplace, in her temple, instead of an 
altar, and in the place of sacrifices they 
simply kept burning upon it a perpetual fire. 

The priestesses who had charge of the 



122 ROMtJLTTS. 

fire were selected for this purpose when 
they were children. It was required that 
they should be from six to ten years of age. 
When chosen they were consecrated to the 
service of Yesta by the most solemn cere- 
monies and as virgins, were bound under 
awful penalties, to spotless purity of life. As 
the perpetual fire in the temple of Yesta rep- 
resented the fire of the domestic hearth, so 
these vestal virgins represented the maidens 
by whom the domestic service of a house- 
hold is performed ; and the life of seclusion 
and celibacy which w T as required of them 
was the emblem of the innocence and purity 
which the institution of the family is ex- 
pressly intended to guard. The duties of 
the vestals were analogous to those of do- 
mestic maidens. They were to watch the 
fire, and never to allow it to go out. They 
were to perform various rites and ceremo- 
nies connected with the worship of Yesta, 
and to keep the interior of the temple and 
the shrines pure and clean, and the sacred 
vessels and utensils arranged, as in a well- 
ordered household. In a word, they were 
to be, in purity, in industry, in neatness, in 
order, and in patience and vigilance, the 
perfect impersonation of maidenly virtue as 
exhibited in its own proper field of duty at 
home. 

The most awful penalties were visited 
upon the head of any vestal virgin who was 
guilty of violating her vows. There is no 
direct evidence what these penalties were at 



RHEA SLLVIA. 123 

this early period, but in subsequent years, 
at Rome, where the vestal virgins resided, 
the man who was guilty of enticing one of 
them away from her duty was publicly 
scourged to death in the Roman forum. 
For the vestal herself, thus led away, a cell 
was dug beneath the ground, and vaulted 
over. A pit led down to this subterranean 
dungeon, entering it by one side. In the 
dungeon itself there was placed a table, a 
lamp, and a little food. The descent was 
by a ladder which passed down through the 
pit. The place of this terrible preparation 
for punishment was near one of the gates of 
the city, and when all was ready the unhappy 
vestal was brought forth, at the head of a 
great public procession, — she herself being 
attended by her friends and relatives, all 
mourning and lamenting her fate by the 
way. The ceremony, in a word, was in all 
respects a funeral, except that the person who 
was to be buried was still alive. On arriv- 
ing at the spot, the wretched criminal was 
conducted down the ladder and placed upon 
the couch in the cell. The assistants who 
performed this service then returned ; the 
ladder was drawn up ; earth was thrown in 
until the pit was filled ; and the erring girl 
was left to her fate, which was, when her 
lamp had burned out, and her food was 
expended, to starve by slow degrees, and 
die at last in darkness and despair. 

If we would do full justice to the ancient 
founders of civilization and empire, we 



124 BOMULUS. 

should probably consider their enshrinement 
of Vesta, and the contriving of the cere- 
monies and observances which were in- 
stituted in honor of her, not as the setting 
up of an idol or false god, for worship, in the 
sense in which Christian nations worship 
the spiritual and eternal Jehovah — but 
rather as the embodiment of an idea, — a 
principle, — as the best means, in those rude 
ages, of attracting to it the general regard. 

Even in our own days, and in Christian 
lands, men erect a pole in honor of liberty, 
and surmount it with the image of a cap. 
And if, instead of the cap, they were to 
place a carved ef&gy of liberty above, and 
to assemble for periodical celebrations 
below, with games, and music, and banners, 
we should not probably call them idolaters. 
So Christian poets write odes and invoca- 
tions to Peace, to Disappointment, to Spring, 
to Beauty, in which they impersonate an 
idea, or a principle, and address it in the 
language of adoration, as if it were a sen- 
tient being, possessing magical and mysteri- 
ous powers. In the same manner, the rites 
and celebrations of ancient times are not 
necessarily all to be considered as idolatry, 
and denounced as inexcusably wicked and 
absurd. Our fathers set up an image in honor 
of liberty, to strengthen the influence of the 
love of liberty on the popular mind. It is 
possible that JEneas looked upon the subject 
in the same light, in erecting a public fire- 
side in honor of domestic peace and happi- 



RHEA SILVIA. 125 

ness, and in designating maidens to guard it 
with constant vigilance and with spotless 
purity. At all events, the institution ex- 
ercised a vast and an incalculable power, in 
impressing the minds of men, in those rude 
ages, with a sense of the sacredness of the 
domestic tie, and in keeping before their 
minds a high standard, in theory at least, 
of domestic honor and purity. We must re- 
member that they had not then the word of 
God, nor any means of communicating to 
the minds of the people any general enlight- 
enment and instruction. They were obliged, 
therefore, to resort to the next best method 
which their ingenuity could devise. 

There were a great many very extraor- 
dinary rites and ceremonies connected with 
the service of the vestal altar, and many 
singular regulations for the conduct of it. 
the origin and design of which it would now 
be very difficult to ascertain. As has al- 
ready been remarked, the virgins were chosen 
when very young, being, when designated 
to the office, not under six nor over ten years 
of age. They were chosen by the king, and 
it was necessary that the candidate, besides 
the above-named requisite in regard to age, 
should be in a perfect condition of soundness 
and health in respect to all her bodily limbs 
and members, and also to the faculties of 
her mind. It was required too that she 
should be the daughter of free and freeborn 
parents, who had never been in slavery, and 
nad never followed any menial or degrading 



126 ROMULUS. 

occupation ; and also that both her parents 
should be living. To be an orphan was con- 
sidered, it seems, in some sense an imperfec- 
tion. 

The service of the vestal virgins continued 
for thirty years ; and when this period had 
expired, the maidens were discharged from 
their vows, and were allowed, if they chose, 
to lay aside their vestal robes, and the other 
emblems of their office, and return to the 
world, with the privilege even of marrying, 
if they chose to do so. Though the laws 
however permitted this, there was a pubiic 
sentiment against it, and it was seldom that 
any of the vestal priestesses availed them- 
selves of the privilege. They generally re- 
mained after their term of service had ex- 
pired, in attendance at the temple, and died as 
they had lived in the service of the goddess. 

One of the chief functions of the virgins, 
in their service in the temple, was to keep the 
sacred fire perpetually burning. This fire 
was never to go out, and if, by any neglect 
on the part of the vestal in attendance, this 
was allowed to occur, the guilty maiden was 
punished terribly by scourging. The pun- 
ishment was inflicted by the hands of the 
highest pontifical officer of the state. The 
laws of the institution however evinced their 
high regard for the purity and modesty of 
the vestal maidens by requiring that the 
blows should be administered in the dark, 
the sufferer having been previously prepared 
to receive them by being partially undressed 



RHEA SILVIA. 127 

by her female attendants. The extinguished 
fire was then rekindled with many solemn 
ceremonies. 

Rhea Silvia, the mother of Romulus, was, 
we repeat, a vestal virgin. She lived foi>r 
hundred years after the death of ^Eneas. 
During these four centuries, the kingdom 
had been governed by the descendants of 
^Eneas, generally in a peaceful and prosper- 
ous manner, although some difficulties oc- 
curred in the establishment of the succession 
immediately after JEneas's death. It will 
be remembered that ^Eneas was drowned 
during the continuance of the war. He left 
one son, and perhaps others. The one who 
figured most conspicuously in the subsequent 
history of the kingdom, was Ascanius, the 
son who had accompanied ^Eneas from Troy, 
and who had now attained to years of ma- 
turity. He, of course, on his father's death, 
immediately succeeded him. 

There was some question, however, 
whether, after all, Lavinia herself was not 
entitled to the kingdom. It was doubtful, 
according to the laws and usages of those 
days, whether ^Eneas held the realm in his 
own right, or as the husband of Lavinia, who 
was the daughter and heir of Latinus, the 
ancient and legitimate king. Lavinia, how- 
ever, seemed to have no disposition to assert 
her claim. She was of a mild and gentle 
spirit ; and, besides, her health was at that 
time such as to lead her to wish for retire- 
ment and repose. She even had some fears 



128 ROMULUS. 

for her personal safety, not knowing but 
that Ascanius would be suspicious and jeal- 
ous of her on account of her claims to the 
throne, and that he might be tempted to do 
her some injury. Her husband had been 
her only protector among the Trojans, and 
now, since he was no more, and another, who 
was in some sense her rival, had risen to 
power, she naturally felt insecure. She ac- 
cordingly took the first opportunity to re- 
tire from Lavinium. She went away into 
the forests in the interior of the country, 
with a very few attendants and friends, and 
concealed herself there in a safe retreat. 
The family that received and sheltered her, 
was that of Tyrrheus, the chief of her father's 
shepherds, whose children's stag Ascanius 
had formerly killed. Here, in a. short time, 
she had a son. She determined to name him 
from his father ; and in order to com- 
memorate his having been born in the midst 
of the wild forest scenes which surrounded 
her at the time of his birth, she called him 
in full, JEneas of the woods, or, as it was ex- 
pressed in, the language which was then used 
in Latium, ^Eneas Silvius. The boy, when 
he grew up, was always known by this 
name in subsequent history. 

And not only did he himself retain the 
name, but he transmitted it to his posterity, 
for all the kings that afterward descended 
from him, extending in a long line through 
a period of four hundred years, had the 
word Sylvius affixed to their names, in per- 



RHEA SILVIA. 129 

petual commemoration of the romantic birth 
of their ancestor. Rhea, the mother of 
Romulus, of whom we have already spoken, 
and of whom we shall presently have occa- 
sion to speak still more, was Rhea Silvia, 
by reason of her having been by birth a 
princess of this royal line. 

Ascanius, in the mean time, on the death 
of his father, was for a time so engrossed 
in the prosecution of the war, that he paid 
but little attention to the departure of La- 
vinia. The name of the king of the Rutu- 
lians who fought against him was Mezentius. 
Mezentius had a son named Lausus, and 
both father and son were personally serving 
in the army by which Ascanius was besieged 
in Lavinium. Mezentius had command in the 
camp, at the headquarters of the army, 
which was at some distance from the city. 
Lausus headed an advanced guard, which 
had established itself strongly at a post 
which they had taken near the gates. h\ 
this state of things, Ascanius, one dark and 
stormy night, planned a sortie. He organ- 
ized a desperate body of followers, and after 
watching the flashes of lightning for a time, 
to find omens from them indicating success, 
he gave the signal. The gates were opened 
and the column of armed men sallied forth 
creeping noiselessly forward in the darkness 
and gloom, until they came to the encamp- 
ment of Lausus. They fell upon this camp 
with an irresistible rush, and with terrific 
shouts and outcries. The whole detachment 



130 ROMULUS. 

were taken entirely by surprise, and great 
numbers were made prisoners or slain. 
Lausus himself was killed. 

Excited by their victory, the Trojan sol- 
diers, headed by Ascanius, now turned their 
course toward the main body of the Kutu- 
lian army. Mezentius had, however, in the 
mean time, obtained warning of their ap- 
proach, and when they reached his camp he 
was ready to retreat. He fled with all his 
forces toward the mountains. Ascanius and 
the Trojans followed him. Mezentius halted 
and attempted to fortify himself on a hill. 
Ascanius surrounded the hill, and soon com- 
pelled his enemies to come to terms. A 
treaty was made, and Mezentius and his 
forces soon after withdrew from the coun- 
try, leaving Ascanius and Latium in peace. 

Ascanius then, after having in some de- 
gree settled his affairs, began to think of 
Lavinia. In fact, the Latian portion of his 
subjects seemed disposed to murmur and 
complain, at her having been compelled to 
withdraw from her own paternal kingdom, 
in order to leave the throne to the occupancy 
of the son of a stranger. Some even feared 
that she had come to some harm, or that 
Ascanius might in the end put her to death 
when time had been allowed for the recol- 
lection of her to pass in some degree from 
the minds of men. So the public began 
generally to call for Lavinia's return. 

Ascanius seems to have been well disposed 
to do justice in the case, for he not only 



RHEA SILVIA. 131 

sought out Lavinia and induced her to re- 
turn, to the capital with her little son, but 
he finally concluded to give up Lavinium to 
her entirely, as her own rightful dominion, 
while he went away and founded a new city 
for himself. He accordingly explored the 
country around for a favorable site, and at 
length decided upon a spot nearly north of 
Lavinium, and not many miles distant from 
it. The place which he marked out for the 
walls of the city was at the foot of a moun- 
tain, on a tract of somewhat elevated 
ground, which formed one of the lower 
declivities of it. The mountain, rising ab- 
ruptly on one side, formed a sure defense 
on that side : on the other side was a small 
lake, of clear and pellucid water. In front, 
and somewhat below, there were extended 
plains of fertile land. Ascanius, after hav- 
ing determined on this place as the site of 
his intended city, set his men at work to 
make the necessary constructions. Some 
built the walls of the city, and laid out 
streets and erected houses within. Others 
were employed in forming the declivity of 
the mountain above into terraces, for the 
cultivation of the vine. The slopes which 
they thus graded had a southern exposure, 
and the grapes which subsequently grew 
there, were luxurious and delicious in flavor. 
From the little lake channels were cut lead- 
ing over the plains below, and by this means 
a constant supply of water could be con- 
veyed to the fields of grain which were to 



132 ROMULUS. 

be sown there, for purposes of irrigation. 
Thus the place which Ascanius chose fur- 
nished all possible facilities both for main- 
taining, and also for defending the people 
who were to make it their abode. The town 
was called Alba Longa, that is long Alba. 
It was called long to distinguish it from an- 
other Alba. It was really long in its form, 
as the buildings extended for a considerable 
distance along the border of the lake. 

Ascanius reigned over thirty j^ears at Alba 
Longa, while La vinia reigned at Lavinium, 
each friendly to the other and governing the 
country at large, together, in peace and har- 
mony. In process of time both died. As- 
canius left a son whose name was lulus, 
while ^Eneas Sylvius was Lavinia's heir. 

There was, of course, great diversity of 
opinion throughout the nation in regard to 
the comparative claims of these two princes, 
respectively. Some maintained that ^Eneas 
the Trojan became, by conquest, the rightful 
sovereign of Latium, irrespective of any 
rights that he acquired through his marriage 
with Lavinia, and that lulus, as the son of 
his eldest son, rightfully succeeded him. 
Others contended that Lavinia represented 
the ancient and the truly legitimate royal 
line, and that iEneas Silvius, as her son and 
heir, ought to be placed upon the throne. 
And there were those who proposed to com- 
promise the question, by dividing Latium 
into two separate kingdoms, giving up one 
part to lulus, w T ith Alba Longa for its capital, 



RHEA SILVIA. 133 

and the other, with Lavinium for its capital, 
to ^Eneas Silvius, Lavinia's heir. This prop- 
osition was, however, overruled. The two 
kingdoms, thus formed would be small and 
feeble, it was thought, and unable to defend 
themselves against the other Italian nations in 
case of war. The question was finally settled 
by a different sort of compromise. It was 
agreed that Latium should retain its integrity, 
and that JEneas Silvius, being the son both 
of -zEneas and Lavinia, and thus representing 
both branches of the reigning power, should 
be the king, while lulus and his descendants 
forever, should occupy the position, scarcely 
less inferior, of sovereign power in matters 
of religion. ^Eneas Silvius, therefore, and 
his descendants, became Icings, and as such 
commanded the armies and directed the 
affairs of state, while lulus and his family 
were exalted, in connection with them, to 
the highest pontifical dignities. 

This state of things, once established, con- 
tinued age after age, and century after cen- 
tury, for about four hundred years. No rec- 
ords, and very few traditions in respect to 
what occurred during this period remain. 
One circumstance, however, took place which 
caused itself to be remembered. There was 
one king in the line of the Silvii, whose name 
was Tiberinus. In one of his battles with 
the armies of the nation adjoining him on 
the northern side, he attempted to swim 
across the river that formed the frontier. 
He was forced down by the current, and was 

10 — Romulus 



134 ROMULUS. 

seen no more. By the accident, however, 
he gave the name of Tiber to the stream, 
and thus perpetuated his own memory 
through the subsequent renown of the river 
in which he was drowned. Before this time 
the river was called the Albula. 

Another incident is related, which is some- 
what curious, as illustrating the ideas and 
customs of the times. One of this Silvian 
line of sovereigns was named Alladius. This 
Alladius conceived the idea of making the 
people believe that he was a god, and in 
order to accomplish this end he resorted to 
the contrivance of imitating, by artificial 
means, the sound of the rumbling of thunder 
and the flashes of lightning at night, from 
his palace on the banks of the lake at Alba 
Longa. He employed, probably, for this 
purpose some means similar to those resorted 
to for the same end in theatrical spectacles 
at the present day. The people, however, 
were not deceived by this imposture, though 
they soon after fell into an error nearly as 
absurd as believing in this false thunder 
would have been ; for, on an occasion which 
occurred not long afterward, probably that 
of a great storm accompanied with torrents 
of rain upon the mountains around, the lake 
rose so high as to produce an inundation, in 
which the water broke into the palace, arnd 
the pretended thunderer was drowned. The 
people considered that he was destroyed thus 
by the special interposition of heaven, to 
punish him for his impiety in daring to as- 



RHEA SILVIA. 135 

sume what was then considered the peculiar 
attribute and prerogative of supreme divinity. 
In fact, the rumor circulated, and one his- 
torian has recorded it as true, that Alladius 
was struck by the lightning which accom- 
panied the storm, and thus killed at once by 
the terrible agency w^hich he had presumed to 
counterfeit, before the inundation of the 
palace came on. If he met his death in any 
sudden and unusual manner, it is not at all 
surprising that his fate should have been at- 
tributed to the judgment of God, for thunder 
was regarded in those days with an extreme 
and superstitious veneration and awe. All 
this is, however, now changed. Men have 
learned to understand thunder, and to pro- 
tect themselves from its power ; and now, 
since Franklin and Morse have commenced 
the work of subduing the potent and mys- 
terious agent in which it originates, to the 
human w^ill, the presumption is not very 
strong against the supposition that the time 
may come when human science may actually 
produce it in the sky — as it is now produced, 
in effect, upon the lecturer's table. 

At last, toward the close of the four hun- 
dred years during which the dynasty of the 
Sylvii continued to reign over Latium, a cer- 
tain monarch of the series died, leaving two 
children, Numitor and Amulius. Numitor 
was the eldest son, and as such entitled to 
succeed his father. But he was of a quiet 
and somewhat inefficient disposition, while 
his younger brother was ardent and ambi- 



136 ROMULUS. 

tious, and very likely to aspire to the posses- 
sion of power. The father, it seems, antici- 
pated the possibility of dissension between 
his sons after his death, and in order to do 
all in his power to guard against it, he en- 
deavored to arrange and settle the succession 
before he died. In the course of the negotia- 
tions which ensued, Amulius proposed that 
his father's possessions should be divided in- 
to two portions, the kingdom to constitute 
one, and the wealth and treasures the other, 
and that Numitor should choose which por- 
tion he would have. This proposal seemed 
to have the appearance, at least, of reason- 
ableness and impartiality; and it w r ould 
have been really very reasonable, if the right 
to the inheritance thus disposed of, had be- 
longed equally to the younger and to the 
elder son. But it did not. And thus the 
offer of Amulius was, in effect, a proposition 
to divide with himself that which really be- 
longed w r holly to his brother. 

Numitor, however, who, it seems, was 
little disposed to contend for his rights, 
agreed to this proposal. He, however, chose 
the kingdom, and left the wealth for his 
brother ; and the inheritance was accord- 
ingly thus divided on the death of the father. 
But Amulius, as soon as he came into pos- 
session of his treasures, began to employ 
them as a means of making powerful friends, 
and strengthening his political influence. 
In due time he usurped the throne, and 
Numitor, giving up the contest with very 



RHEA SILVIA. 137 

little attempt to resist the usurpation, fled 
and concealed himself in some obscure place 
of retreat. He had, however, two children, 
a son and a daughter, which he left behind 
him in his flight. Amulius feared that these 
children might, at some future time, give 
him trouble, by advancing claims as their 
father's heirs. He did not dare to kill them 
openly, for fear of exciting the popular 
odium against himself. He was obliged, 
therefore, to resort to stratagem. 

The son, whose name was Egestus, he 
caused to be slain at. a hunting party, by 
employing remorseless and desperate men to 
shoot him, in the heat of the chase, with ar- 
rows, or thrust him through with a spear, 
watching their opportunity for doing this 
at a moment when they w r ere not observed, 
or when it might appear to be an accident. 
The daughter, whose name was Rhea — the 
Rhea Silvia named at the commencement of 
this chapter — he could not well actually de- 
stroy, without being known to be her mur- 
derer ; and perhaps too, he had enough re- 
maining humanity to be unwilling to shed 
the blood of a helpless and beautiful maiden, 
the daughter, too, of his own brother. Then, 
besides, he had a daughter of his own named 
Antho, who was the playmate and com- 
panion of Rhea, and with whose affection 
for her cousin he must have felt some sym- 
pathy. He would not, therefore, destroy 
the child, but contented himself with deter- 
mining to make her a vestal virgin. By 



138 ROMULUS. 

this means she would be solemnly set apart 
to a religious service, which would incapaci- 
tate her from aspiring to the throne ; and 
by being cut off, by her vestal vows, from 
all possibility of forming any domestic ties, 
she could never, he thought, have any off- 
spring to dispute his claim to the throne. 

There was nothing very extraordinary in 
this consecration of his niece, princess as* she 
was, to the service of the vestal fire ; for it 
had been customary for children of the high- 
est rank to be designated to this office. 
The little Rhea, for she was yet a child when 
her uncle took this determination in respect 
to her, made, as would appear, no objection to 
what she perhaps considered a distinguished 
honor. The ceremonies, therefore, of her 
consecration were duly performed ; she took 
the vows, and bound herself by the most 
awful sanctions — unconscious, however, per- 
haps, herself of what she was doing — to lead 
thenceforth a life of absolute celibacy and 
seclusion. 

She was then received into the temple of 
Vesta, and there, with the other maidens 
who had been consecrated before her, she 
devoted herself to the discharge of the duties 
of her office, without reproach, for several 
years. At length, however, certain circum- 
stances occurred, which suddenly terminated 
Rhea's career as a vestal virgin, and led to 
results of the most momentous character. 
What these circumstances were, will be ex- 
plained in the next chapter. 




CHAPTER VIII. 



THE TWINS. 



Although the temple of Vesta itself, at 
Alba Longa, was the principal scene of the 
duties which devolved upon the vestal vir- 
gins, still they were not wholly confined in 
their avocations to that sacred edifice, but 
were often called upon, one or two at a time, 
to perform services, or to assist in the celebra- 
tion of rites, at other places in the city and 
vicinity. 

There was a temple consecrated to Mars 
near to Alba. It was situated in an opening 
in the woods, in some little glen or valley at 
the base of the mountain. There was a 
stream of water running through the ground, 
and Rhea in the performance of her duties 
as a vestal was required at one time to pass 
to and fro through the groves in this solitary 
place to fetch water. Here she allowed her- 
self, in violation of her vestal vows, to form 
the acquaintance of a man, whom she met in 
the groves. She knew well that by doing 
so she made herself subject to the most dread- 
ful penalties in case her fault should become 
known. Still she yielded to the temptation, 
and allowed herself to be persuaded to remain 

139 



140 ROMULUS. 

with the stranger. She said afterward, 
when the facts were brought to light, that 
her meeting with this companion was wholly 
unintentional on her part. She saw a wolf 
in the grove, she said, and she ran terrified 
into a cave to escape from him, and that the 
man came to her there, to protect her, and 
then compelled her to remain with him. 
Besides, from his dress and countenance, 
and air, she had believed him. she said, to be 
the God Mars himself, and thought that it 
was not her duty to resist his will. 

However this may be, her stolen interview 
or interviews with this stranger were not 
known at the time, and Rhea perhaps thought 
that her fault would never be discovered. 
Some weeks after this, however, it was ob- 
served by her companions and friends that 
she began to appear thoughtful and de- 
pressed. Her dejection increased day by 
day ; her face became wan and pale, and her 
eyes were often filled with tears. They 
asked her what was the cause of her trouble. 
She said that she was sick. She was soon af- 
terward excused from her duties in the Vestal 
temple, and went away, and remained for 
some time shut up in retirement and seclusion. 
There at length two children, twins, were 
born to her. 

It was only through the influence of Antho, 
Rhea's cousin, that the unhappy vestal was 
not put to death by Amulius, before her 
children were born, at the time when her 
fault was first discovered. The laws of the 



THE TWINS. 



141 



State in respect to vestal virgins, which were 
inexorably severe, would have justified him 
in causing her to be executed at once, but 
Antho interceded so earnestly for her un- 
happy cousin, that Amulius for a time spared 
her life. When, however, her sons were born, 




Rhea Silvia. 



the anger of Amulius broke out anew. If 
she had remained childless he would probably 
have allowed her to live, though she could 
of course never have been restored to her 
office in the temple of Yesta. Or if she had 
given birth to a daughter she might have 
been pardoned, since a daughter, on account 



142 BOMULTTS. 

of her sex, would have been little likely to 
disturb Amulius in the possession of the king- 
dom. But the existence of two sons, born 
directly in the line of the succession, and 
each of them having claims superior to his 
own, endangered, most imminently, he per- 
ceived, his possession of power. He was of 
course greatly enraged. 

He caused Khea to be shut up in close im- 
prisonment, and as for the boys, he ordered 
them to be thrown into the" Tiber. The 
Tiber was at some considerable distance from 
Alba ; but it was probably near the place 
where Rhea had resided in her retirement, 
and where the children were born. 

A peasant of that region was intrusted 
with the task of throwing the children into 
the river Whether his official duty in un- 
dertaking this commission required him act- 
ually to drown the boys, or whether he was 
allowed to give the helpless babes some little 
chance for their lives, is not known. At 
all events he determined that in committing 
the children to the stream he would so ar- 
range it that they should float away from 
his sight, in order that he might not him- 
self be a witness of their dying struggles 
and cries. He accordingly put them upon 
a species of float that he made, — a sort of 
box or trough, as would seem from the an- 
cient descriptions, which he had hollowed 
out from a log, — and disposing their little 
limbs carefully within this narrow recepta- 
cle, he pushed the frail boat* with its navi- 



THE TWINS. 



143 



gators still more frail, out upon the current 
of the river. 

The name of the peasant who performed 
this task was Faustulus. The peasant also 
who subsequently, — as will hereafter appear, 




Faustulus and the Twins. 



— found and took charge of the children, is 
spoken of by the ancient historians as Faus- 
tulus, too. In fact we might well suppose 
that no man, however rustic and rude, could 
give his time and his thoughts to two such 
babes long enough to make an ark for them, 
for the purpose of making it possible to 



144 BOMULUS. 

save their lives, and then place them care- 
fully in it to send them away, without be- 
coming so far interested in their fate, and 
so touched by their mute and confiding help- 
lessness, as to feel prompted to follow the 
stream to see how so perilous a navigation 
would end. We have, however, no direct 
evidence that Faustuius did so watch the 
progress of his boat down the river. The 
story is that it was drifted along, now whirl- 
ing in eddies, and now shooting down over 
rapid currents, until at last, at a bend in the 
river, it was thrown upon the beach, and 
being turned over by the concussion, the 
children were rolled out upon the sand. 

The neighboring thickets soon of course 
resounded with their plaintive cries. A 
mother wolf who was sleeping there came 
out to see what was the matter. Now a 
mother, of whatever race, is irresistibly 
drawn by an instinct, if incapable of a senti- 
ment, of affection, to love and to cherish 
anything that is newly born. The wolf 
caressed the helpless babes, imagining per- 
haps that they were her own offspring ; and 
lying down by their side she cherished and 
fed them, watching all the time with a fierce 
and vigilant eye for any approaching enemy 
or danger. The rude nursery might very 
naturally be supposed to be in dangerous 
proximity to the water, but it happened 
that the river, when the babes were set 
adrift in it, was very high, from the effect of 
rains upon the mountains, and thus soon 



THE TWINS. 145 

after the children were thrown upon the 
land, the water began to subside. In a short 
time it wholly returned to its accustomed 
channel, leaving the children on the warm 
sand, high above all danger. The wolf was 
not their only guardian. A woodpecker, 
the tradition says, watched over them too, 
and brought them berries and other sylvan 
food. The reader will perhaps be disposed 
to hesitate a little in receiving this last 
statement for sober history, but as no part 
of the whole narrative will bear any very 
rigid scrutiny, we may as well take the story 
of the woodpecker along with the rest. 

In a short time the children were rescued 
from their exposed situation by a shepherd, 
who is called Faustulus, and may or may 
not have been the same with the Faustulus 
by whom they had been exposed. Faustu- 
lus carried the children to his hut; and there 
the maternal attentions of the wolf and the 
woodpecker were replaced by those of the 
shepherd's wife. Her name was Larentia. 
Faustulus was one of Amulius's herdsmen, 
having the care of the flocks and herds that 
grazed on this part of the royal domain, but 
living, like any other shepherd, in great se- 
clusion, in his hut in the forests. He not 
only rescued the children, but he brought 
home and preserved the trough in which 
they had been floated down the river. He 
put this relic aside, thinking that the day 
might perhaps come in which there would 
be occasion to produce it. He told the story 



146 ROMULUS. 

of the children only to a very few trust- 
worthy friends, and he accompanied the 
communication, in the cases where he made 
it, with many injunctions of secrecy. He 
named the foundlings Eomulus and Remus, 
and as they grew up they passed generally 
for the shepherd's sons. 

Faustulus felt a great degree of interest, 
and a high sense of responsibility too, in hav- 
ing these young princes under his care. He 
took great pains to protect them from all 
possible harm, and to instruct them in every- 
thing which it was in those days considered 
important for young men to know. It is 
even said that he sent them to a town in 
Latium where there was some sort of semi- 
nary of learning, that their minds might re- 
ceive a proper intellectual culture. As they 
grew up they were both handsome in form 
and in countenance, and were characterized 
by a graceful dignity of air and demeanor, 
which made them very attractive in the eyes 
of all who beheld them. They were prom- 
inent among the young herdsmen and hun- 
ters of the forest, for their courage, their 
activity, their strength, their various per- 
sonal accomplishments, and their high and 
generous qualities of mind. Romulus was 
more silent and thoughtful than his brother, 
and seemed to possess in some respects supe- 
rior mental powers. Both were regarded by 
all who knew them with feelings of the high- 
est respect and consideration. 

Romulus and Remus treated their own 



THE TWISTS. . 147 

companions and equals, that is the young 
shepherds and herdsmen of the mountains, 
with great courtesy and kindness, and were 
very kindly regarded by them in return. 
They, however, evinced a great degree of 
independence of spirit in respect to the 
various bailiffs and chief herdsmen, and 
other officers of field and forest police, who 
exercised authority in the region where they 
lived. These men were sometimes haughty 
and domineering, and the peasantry in gen- 
eral stood greatly in awe of them. Romulus 
and Remus, however, always faced them 
without fear, never seeming to be alarmed 
at their threats, or at any other exhibitions 
of their anger. In fact, the bo}^s seemed to 
be imbued with a native loftiness and fear- 
lessness of character, as if they had inherited 
a spirit of confidence and courage with their 
royal blood, or had imbibed a portion of the 
indomitable temper of their fierce foster 
mother. 

They were generous, however, as well as 
brave. They took the part of the weak and 
the oppressed against the tyrannical and the 
strong in the rustic contentions that they 
witnessed ; they interposed to help the feeble, 
to relieve those w r ho were in want, and to 
protect the defenseless. They hunted wild 
beasts, they fought against robbers, they 
rescued and saved the lost. For amusements, 
they practised running, wrestling, racing, 
throwing javelins and spears, and other ath- 
letic feats and accomplishments — in every- 

I 1 — Romulus 



148 ROMULUS. 

thing excelling all their competitors, and be- 
coming in the end greatly renowned. 

Numitor, the father of Rhea Silvia, whom 
Amulius had dethroned and banished from 
Alba, was all this time still living ; and he 
had now at length become so far reconciled 
to Amulius as to be allowed to reside in Alba 
— though he lived there as a private citizen. 
He owned, it seems, some estates near the 
Tiber, where he had flocks and herds that 
were tended by his shepherds and herdsmen. 
It happened at one time that some conten- 
tion arose between the herdsmen of Nu- 
mitor and those of Amulius, among whom 
Romulus and Remus were residing. Now 
as the young meri had thus far, of course, no 
idea whatever of their relationship to Nu- 
mitor, there was no reason why they should 
feel any special interest in his affairs, and 
they accordingly, as might naturally have 
been expected, took part with Amulius in 
this quarrel, since Faustulus, and all the 
shepherds around them were on that side. 
The herdsmen of Numitor in the course of 
the quarrel drove away some of the cattle 
which were claimed as belonging to the 
herdsmen of Amulius. Romulus and Remus 
headed a band which they hastily called to- 
gether, to pursue the depredators and bring 
the cattle back. They succeeded in this ex- 
pedition, and recaptured the herd. This in- 
censed the party of Numitor, and they deter- 
mined on revenge. 

They waited some time for a favorable op- 



THE TWINS. 149 

portunity. At length the time came for 
celebrating a certain festival called the Super- 
calia, which consisted of very rude games 
and ceremonies, in which men sacrificed 
goats, and then dressed themselves partially 
in the skins, and ran about whipping every 
one whom they met, with thongs made like- 
wise of the skins of goats, or of rabbits, or 
other animals remarkable for their fecundity. 
The meaning of the ceremonies, so far as 
such uncouth and absurd ceremonies could 
have any meaning, was to honor the God of 
fertility and fruitfulness, and to promote 
the fruitfulness of their flocks and herds, 
during the year ensuing at the time that 
the celebrations were held. 

The retainers and partisans of Numitor de- 
termined on availing themselves of this op- 
portunity to accomplish their object. Ac- 
cordingly, they armed themselves, and com- 
ing suddenly upon the spot where the shep- 
herds of Amulius were celebrating the games, 
they made a rush for Eemus, who was at that 
time, in accordance with the custom, running 
to and fro, half-naked, and armed only with 
goat-skin thongs. They succeeded in making 
him prisoner, and bore him away in triumph 
to Numitor. 

Of course, this daring act produced great 
excitement throughout the country. Numi- 
tor was well pleased with the prize that he had 
secured, but felt, at the same time, some fear 
of the responsibility which he incurred by 
holding the prisoner. He was strongly in- 



150 ROMULUS. 

clined to proceed against Remus, and punish 
him himself for the offenses which the herds- 
men of his lands charged against him ; but he 
finally concluded that this would not be safe, 
and he determined, in the end, to refer the 
case to Amulius for decision. He accordingly 
sent Kemus to Amulius, making grievous 
charges against him, as a lawless desperado, 
who, with his brother, Numitor said, were 
the terror of the forests, through their domi- 
neering temper and their acts of robbery and 
rapine. 

The king, pleased, perhaps, with the spirit 
of deference to his regal authority on the 
part of his brother, implied in the referring of 
the case of the accused to him for trial, sent 
Remus back again to Numitor, saying that 
Numitor might punish the freebooter himself 
in any way that he thought best. Eemus 
was accordingly brought again to Numitor's 
house. In the mean time, the fact of his be- 
ing thus made a prisoner, and charged with 
crime, and the proceedings in relation to him, 
in sending him back and forth between Amu- 
lius and Numitor, strongly attracted public 
attention. Every one was talking of the 
prisoner, and discussing the question of his 
probable fate. The general interest which 
was thus awakened in respect to him and to 
his brother Romulus, revived the slumbering 
recollections in the minds of the old neigh- 
bors of Faustulus, of the stories which he had 
told them of his having found the twins on 
the bank of the river, in their infancy. They 



THE TWINS. 151 

told this story to Romulus, and he or some 
other friends made it known to Remus while 
he was still confined. 

When Remus was brought before Numi- 
tor — w ho was really his grandfather, though 
the fact of this relationship was wholly 
unknown to both of them — Numitor was 
exceedingly struck with his handsome coun- 
tenance and form, and with his fearless and 
noble demeanor. The young prisoner seemed, 
perfectly self-possessed and at his ease, 
and though he knew well that his life was 
at stake, there was a certain air of calmness 
and composure in his manner which seemed 
to denote very lofty qualities, both of person 
and mind. 

A vague recollection of the lost children 
of his daughter Rhea immediately flashed 
across Numitor's mind. It changed all his 
anger against Remus to a feeling of wonder- 
ing interest and curiosity, and gave to his 
countenance, as he looked upon his prisoner, 
an expression of kind and tender regard. 
After a short pause Numitor addressed the 
young captive — speaking in a gentle and 
conciliating manner — and asked him who 
he was, and who his parents were. 

" I will frankly tell you all that I know," 
said Remus, " since you treat me in so fair 
and honorable a manner. The king deliv- 
ered me up to be punished, without listening 
to what I had to say, but you seem willing 
to hear before you condemn. My name is 
Remus, and I have a twin-brother named 



152 BOMtJLtJS. 

Romulus. We have always supposed our- 
selves to be the children of Faustulus, but 
now, since this difficulty has occurred, we 
have heard new tidings in respect to our 
origin. We are told that we were found in 
our infancy on the shore of the river, at the 
place where Faustulus lives, and that near by 
there was a box or trough, in which we had 
been floated down to the spot from a place 
above. When Faustulus found us, there 
was a wolf and a woodpecker taking care of 
us and bringing us food. Faustulus carried 
us to his house, and brought us up as his 
children. He preserved the trough, too, and 
has it now." 

Numitor was, of course, greatly excited at 
hearing this intelligence. He perceived at 
once that the finding of these children, both 
in respect to time and place, and to all the 
attendant circumstances, corresponded so 
precisely with the exposure of the children 
of Rhea Silvia as to leave no reasonable 
ground for doubt that Romulus and Remus 
were his grandsons. He resolved immedi- 
ately to communicate this joyful discovery 
to his daughter, if he could contrive the 
means of gaining access to her ; for during 
all this time she had been kept in close con- 
finement in her prison. 

In the mean time, Romulus himself, at the 
house of Faustulus, in the forests, had be- 
come greatly excited by the circumstances 
in which he found himself placed. He had 
been first very much incensed at the capture 



THE TWINS. 153 

of Remus, and while concerting with Faus- 
tulus plans for rescuing him, Faustulus had 
explained to him the mystery of his birth. 
He had informed him not only how he was 
found with his brother, on the bank of the 
river, but also had made known to him 
whose sons he and Remus were. Romulus 
was, of course, extremely elated at this in- 
telligence. His native courage and energy 
were quickened anew by his learning that he 
and his brother were princes, and as he be- 
lieved, rightfully entitled to the throne. He 
immediately began to form plans for raising 
a rebellion against the government of Amu- 
lius, with a view of first rescuing Remus 
from his power, and afterward taking such 
ulterior steps as circumstances might re- 
quire. 

Faustulus, on the other hand, leaving 
Romulus to raise the forces for his insurrec- 
tion as he pleased, determined to go himself 
to Xumitor and reveal the secret of the birth 
of Romulus and Remus to him. In order to 
confirm and corroborate his story, he took 
the trough with him, carrying it under his 
cloak, in order to conceal it from view, and 
in this manner made his appearance at the 
gates of Alba. 

There was something in his appearance 
and manner when he arrived at the gate, 
which attracted the attention of the officers 
on guard there. He wore the dress of a 
countryman, and had obviously come in from 
the forests, a long way ; and there was some- 



154 KOMTTLUS. 

thing in his air which denoted hurry and 
agitation. The soldiers asked him what he 
had under his cloak, and compelled him to 
produce the ark to view. The curiosity of 
the guardsmen was still more strongly 
aroused at seeing this old relic. It w^as 
bound with brass bands, and it had some 
rude inscription marked upon it. It hap- 
pened that one of the guard was an old 
soldier who had been in some way connected 
with the exposure of the children of Khea 
when they were set adrift in the river, and 
he immediately recognized this trough as 
the float which they had been placed in. 
He immediately concluded that some very 
extraordinary movement was going on, — 
and he determined to proceed forthwith and 
inform Amulius of what he had discovered. 
He accordingly went to the king and in- 
formed him that a man had been intercepted 
at the gate of the city, who w r as attempting 
to bring in, concealed under his cloak, the 
identical ark or float, which to his certain 
knowledge had been used in the case of the 
children of Rhea Silvia, for sending them 
adrift on the waters of the Tiber. 

The king was greatly excited and agitated 
at receiving this intelligence. He ordered 
Faustulus to be brought into his presence. 
Faustulus was much terrified at receiving 
this summons. He had but little time to re- 
flect what to say, and during the few min- 
utes that elapsed while they were conducting 
him into the presence of the king, he found 



THE TWINS. 155 

it hard to determine how much it would be 
best for him to admit, and how much to 
deny. Finally, in answer to the interroga- 
tions of the king, he acknowledged that he 
found the children and the ark in which they 
had been drifted upon the shore, and that 
he had saved the boys alive, and brought 
them up as his children. He said, however, 
that he did not know where they were. 
They had gone away, he alleged, some 
years before, and were now living as shep- 
herds in some distant part of the country, he 
did not know exactly where. 

Amulius then asked Faustulus what he 
had been intending to do with the trough, 
which he was bringing so secretly into the 
city. Faustulus said that he was going to 
carry it to Rhea in her prison, she having 
often expressed a strong desire to see it, as 
a token or memorial which w r ould recall the 
dear babes that had lain in it very vividly 
to her mind. 

Amulius seemed satisfied that these state- 
ments were honest and true, but they awak- 
ened in his mind a very great solicitude and 
anxiety. He feared that the children, being 
still alive, might some day come to the 
knowledge of their origin, and so disturb 
his possession of the throne, and perhaps 
revenge, by some dreadful retaliation, the 
wrongs and injuries which he had inflicted 
upon their mother and their grandfather. 
The people, he feared, would be very much 
inclined to take part with them, and not 



156 ROMULUS. 

with him, in any contest which might arise ; 
for their sympathies were already on the 
side of Numitor. In a word, he was greatly 
alarmed, and he was much at a loss to know 
what to do, to avert the danger which was 
impending over him. 

He concluded to send to Numitor and in- 
quire of him whether he was aware that the 
boys were still alive, and if so, if he knew 
where they were to be found. He accord- 
ingly sent a messenger to his brother, com- 
missioned to make these inquiries. This 
messenger, though in the service of Amulius, 
was really a friend to Numitor, and on be- 
ing admitted to Numitor's presence, when he 
went to make the inquiries as directed by 
the king, he found Remus there, — though 
not, as he had expected, in the attitude of a 
prisoner awaiting sentence from a judge, 
but rather in that of a son in affectionate 
consultation with his father. He soon 
learned the truth, and immediately expressed 
his determination to espouse the cause of 
the prince. " The whole city will be on 
your side," said he to Kemus. " You have 
only to place yourself at the head of the 
population, and proclaim your rights ; and 
you will easily be restored to the possession 
of them." 

Just at this crisis a tumult was heard at 
the gates of the city. Romulus had arrived 
there at the head of the band of peasants 
and herdsmen that he had collected in the 
forests. These insurgents were rudely armed 



THE TWINS. 157 

and were organized in a very simple an& 
primitive manner. For weapons the peas- 
ants bore such implements of agriculture as 
could be used for weapons, while the hunts- 
men brought their pikes, and spears, and 
javelins, and such other projectiles as w^ere 
employed in those days in hunting wild 
beasts. The troop was divided into com- 
panies of one hundred, and for banners they 
bore tufts of grass on wisps of straw r , or 
fern, or other herbage, tied at the top of a 
pole. The armament was rude, but the men 
were resolute and determined, and they made 
their appearance at the gates of the city 
upon the outside, just in time to co-operate 
with Remus in the rebellion which he had 
raised within. 

The revolt was successful. A revolt is 
generally successful against a despot, when 
the great mass of the population desire his 
downfall. Amulius made a desperate at- 
tempt to stem the torrent, but his hour had 
come. His palace was stormed, and he was 
slain. The revolution was complete, and 
Romulus and Remus were masters of the 
country. 




CHAPTER IX. 



THE FOUNDING OF ROME. 



As soon as the excitement and the agita- 
tions which attended the sudden revolution 
by which Amulius was dethroned were in 
some measure calmed, and tranquillity was 
restored, the question of the mode in which 
the new government should be settled, arose. 
Numitor considered it best that he should 
call an assembly of the people and lay the 
subject before them. There was a very 
large portion of the populace who yet knew 
nothing certain in respect to the causes of 
the extraordinary events that had occurred. 
The city was filled with strange rumors, in 
all of which truth and falsehood were in- 
extricably mingled, so that they increased 
rather than allayed the general curiosity and 
wonder. 

Numitor accordingly convened a general 
assembly of the inhabitants of Alba, in a 
public square. The rude and rustic moun- 
taineers and peasants whom Romulus had 
brought to the city came with the rest. 
Romulus and Remus themselves did not at 
first appear. Numitor, when the audience 
was assembled, came forward to address 

158 



THE FOUNDING OF ROME. 159 

them. He gave them a recital of all the 
events connected with the usurpation of 
Amulius. He told them of the original 
division which had been made thirty or 
forty years before, of the kingdom and the 
estates of his father, between Amulius and 
himself, — of the plans and intrigues by which 
Amulius had contrived to possess himself of 
the kingdom and reduce him, Numitor, into 
subjection to his sway, — of his causing 
Egestus, Numitor's son, to be slain in the 
hunting party, and then compelling his little 
daughter Rhea to become a vestal virgin in 
order that she might never be married. He 
then went on to describe the birth of Romu- 
lus and Remus, the anger of Amulius when 
informed of the event, his cruel treatment 
of the children and of the mother, and his 
orders that the babes should be drowned in 
the Tiber. He gave an account of the man- 
ner in which the infants had been put into 
the little wooden ark, of their floating down 
the stream, and finally landing on the bank, 
and of their being rescued, protected and 
fed, by the wolf and the woodpecker. He 
closed his speech by saying that the young 
princes were still alive, and that they were 
then at hand ready to present themselves 
before the assembly. 

As he said these words, Romulus and Re- 
mus came forward, and the vast assembly, 
after gazing for a moment in silent wonder 
upon their tall and graceful forms, in which 
they saw combined athletic strength and vigor 



160 BOMULUS. 

with manly beauty, they burst into long and 
loud acclamations. As soon as the applause 
had in some measure subsided, Eomulus and 
Eemus turned to their grandfather and hailed 
him king. The people responded to this an- 
nouncement with new plaudits, and Numitor 
was universally recognized as the rightful 
sovereign. 

It seems that notwithstanding the personal 
graces and accomplishments of Eomulus and 
Eemus, and their popularity among their 
fellow foresters, that they and their fol- 
lowers made a somewhat rude and wild ap- 
pearance in the city, and Numitor was very 
willing, when the state of things had become 
somewhat settled, that his rustic auxiliaries 
should find some occasion for withdrawing 
from the capital and returning again to their 
own native fastnesses. Eomulus and Eemus, 
however, having now learned that they were 
entitled to the regal name, naturally felt 
desirous of possessing a little regal power, 
and thus desired to remain in the city ; 
while still they had too much consideration 
for their grandfather to wish to deprive him 
of the government. After some deliberation 
a plan was devised which promised to gratify 
the wishes of all. 

The plan was this, namely, that Numitor 
should set apart a place in his kingdom of 
Latium where Eomulus and Eemus might 
build a city for themselves, — taking with 
them to the spot the whole horde of their re- 
tainers. The place which he designated for 



THE FOUNDING OP KOMB. 161 

this purpose was the spot on the banks of 
the Tiber where the two children had been 
landed when floating down the stream. It 
was a wild and romantic region, and the en- 
terprise of building a city upon it was one 
exactly suited to engage the attention and 
occupy the powers of such restless spirits as 
those who had collected under the young 
princes' standard. Many of these men, it it 
true, were shepherds and herdsmen, well 
disposed in mind, though rude and rough in 
manners. But then there were many others 
of a very turbulent and unmanageable char- 
acter, outlaws, fugitives, and adventurers of 
every description, who had fled to the woods 
to escape punishment for former crimes or 
seek opportunities for the commission of new 
deeds of rapine and robbery ; and who had 
seized upon the occasion furnished by the 
insurrection against Amulius to come forth 
into the world again. Criminals always 
ttocic into armies when armies are raised • for 
war presents to the wicked and depraved, all 
the charms, with but half the danger, of a life 
of crime. War is in fact ordinarily only a 
legal organization of crime. 

Romulus and Eemus entered into their 
grandfather's plan with great readiness 
JNumitor promised to aid them in their en 
terpnse by every means in his power He 
was to furnish tools and implements, for ex- 
cavations and building, and artisans so far 
as artisans were required, and was also to 
provide such temporary supplies of provisions 

12 — Romulus 



162 ROMULUS. 

and stores as might be required at the outset 
of the undertaking. He gave permission also 
to any of his subjects to join Eomulus and 
Remus in their undertaking, and they, in 
order to increase their numbers as much 
as possible, sent messengers around to the 
neighboring country inviting all who were 
disposed, to come and take part in the build- 
ing of the new city. This invitation was ac- 
cepted by great numbers of people, from 
every rank and station in life. 

Of course, however, the greater portion of 
those who came to join the enterprise, were 
of a very low grade in respect to moral 
character. Men of industry, integrity, and 
moral worth, who possessed kind hearts and 
warm domestic affections, were generally 
well and prosperously settled each in his 
own hamlet or town, and were little inclined 
to break away from the ties which bound 
them to friends and society, in order to 
plunge in such a scene of turmoil and con- 
fusion as the building of a new city, under 
such circumstances, must necessarily be. It 
was of course generally the discontented, the 
idle, and the bad, that would hope for benefit 
from such a change as this enterprise pro- 
posed to them. Every restless and desperate 
spirit, every depraved victim of vice, every 
fugitive and outlaw would be ready to em- 
bark in such a scheme, which was to create 
certainly a new phase in their relations to 
society, and thus afford them an opportunity 
to make a fresh beginning. The enterprise 



THE FOUNDING OF ROME. 



163 



at the same time seemed to offer them, 
through a new organization and new laws, 
some prospect of release from responsibility 
for former crimes. In a word, in preparing 
to lay the foundations of their city, Romulus 




Situation of Rome. 



and Remus found themselves at the head of 
a very wild and lawless company. 

There were seven distinct hills on the 
ground which was subsequently included 
within the limits of Rome. Between and 
among these hills the river meandered by 
sweeping and graceful curves, and at one 
point, near the center of what is now the 



164 ROMULUS. 

city, the stream passed very near the foot of 
one of the elevations called the Palatine Hill. 
Here was the spot where the wooden ark in 
which Eomulus and Remus had been set 
adrift, had been thrown upon the shore. 
The sides of the hill were steep, and between 
it and the river there was in one part a deep 
morass. Romulus thought, on surveying 
the ground with Remus his brother, that this 
was the best spot for building the city. 
They could set apart a sufficient space of 
level ground around the foot of the hill for 
the houses — inclosing the whole with a wall 
— while the top of the hill itself might be 
fortified to form the citadel. The wall and 
the steep acclivity of the ground would form 
a protection on three sides of the inclosure, 
while the morass alone would be a sufficient 
defense on the part toward the river. Then 
Romulus was specially desirous to select this 
spot as the site, as it was here that he and 
his brother had been saved from destruction 
in so wonderful a manner. 

Remus, however, did not concur in these 
views. A little farther down the stream 
there was another elevation called the Aven- 
tine Hill, which seemed to him more suit- 
able for the site of a town. The sides were 
less precipitous, and thus were more con- 
venient for building ground. Then the land 
in the immediate vicinity was better adapted 
to the purposes which they had in view. In 
a word, the Aventine Hill was, as Remus 
thought, for every substantial reason, much 



THE FOUNDING OF ROME, 165 

the best locality ; and as for the fact of their 
having been washed ashore at the foot of 
the other hill, it was in his opinion an in- 
significant circumstance, wholly unworthy 
of being taken seriously into the account in 
laying the foundation of a city. 

The positions in which Remus and Romu- 
lus stood in respect to each other, and the 
feelings which were naturally awakened in 
their hearts by the circumstances in which 
they found themselves placed, were such as 
did not tend to allay any rising asperity 
which accident might occasion, but rather 
to irritate and inflame it. In the first place, 
they were both ardent, impulsive, and impe- 
rious. Each was conscious of his strength, 
and eager to exercise it. Each wished to 
command, and was wholly unwilling to 
obey. While they were in adversity, they 
clung together for mutual help and protec- 
tion ; but now, when they had come into 
the enjoyment of prosperity and power, the 
bands of affection which had bound them 
together were very much weakened, and 
were finally sundered. Then there was 
nothing whatever to mark any superiority 
of one over the other. If they had been of 
different ages, the younger could have 
yielded to the elder, in some degree, without 
wounding his pride. If one had been more 
prominent than the other in effecting the 
revolution by which Amulius was dethroned, 
or if there had been a native difference of 
temperament or character to mark a dis- 



166 ROMULUS. 

tinction, or if either had been designated by 
Numitor, or selected by popular choice, for 
the command, — all might have been well. 
But there seemed in fact to be between them 
no grounds of distinction whatever. They 
were twins, so that neither could claim any 
advantage of birthright. They were equal 
in size, strength, activity, and courage. 
They had been equally bold and efficient in 
effecting the revolution ; and now they 
seemed equally powerful in respect to the 
influence which they wielded over the minds 
of their followers. We have been so long 
accustomed to consider Romulus the more 
distinguished personage, through the as- 
sociations connected with his name, that 
have arisen from his subsequent career, that 
it is difficult for us to place him and his 
brother on that footing of perfect equality 
which they occupied in the estimation of all 
who knew them in this part of their history. 
This equality had caused no difference be- 
tween them thus far, but now, since the ad- 
vent of power and prosperity prevented their 
continuing longer on a level, there neces- 
sarily came up for decision the terrible ques- 
tion, — terrible when two such spirits as theirs 
have it to decide, — which was to yield the 
palm. 

\The brothers, therefore, having each ex- 
pressed his preference in respect to the best 
place for the city, were equally unwilling to 
recede from the ground which they had 
taken. Remus thought that there was no 



THE FOUNDING OF ROME. 167 

reason why he should yield to Romulus, and 
Romulus was equally unwilling to give way 
to Remus. Neither could yield, in fact, 
without in some sense admitting the superi- 
ority of the other. The respective partisans 
of the two leaders began to take sides, and 
the dissension threatened to become a serious 
quarrel. Finally, being not yet quite ready 
for an open rupture, they concluded to refer 
the question to Numitor, and to abide by 
his decision. They expected that he would 
come and view the ground, and so decide 
where it was best that the city should be 
built, and thus terminate the controversy. 

But Numitor was too sagacious to hazard 
the responsibility of deciding between two 
such equally matched and powerful oppo- 
nents. He endeavored to soothe and quiet 
the excited feelings of his grandsons, and 
finally recommended to them to appeal to 
augury to decide the question. Augury was 
a mode of ascertaining the divine will in 
respect to questions of expediency or duty, 
by means of certain prognostications and 
signs. These omens were of various kinds, 
but perhaps the most common were the ap- 
pearances observed in watching the flight 
of birds through the air. 

hit was agreed between Eemus and Romu- 
lus, in accordance with the advice of Numi- 
tor, that the question at issue between them 
should be decided in this way. They were 
to take their stations on the two hills re- 
spectively — the Palatine and the Aventine, 



168 ROMULUS. 

and watch for vultures. The homes of the 
vultures of Italy were among the summits 
of the Apennines, and their function in the 
complicated economy of animal life, was to 
watch from the lofty peaks of the moun- 
tains, or from the still more aerial and com- 
manding positions which they found in soar- 
ing at vast elevations in the air, for the 
bodies of the dead, — whether of men after a 
battle, or of sheep, or cattle, or wild beasts 
of the forests, killed by accident or dying 
of age, — and when found to remove and de- 
vour them ; and thus to hasten the return 
of the lifeless elements to other forms of 
animal and vegetable life. What the earth, 
and the rite of burial, effects for man in 
advanced and cultivated stages of society, 
the vultures of the Apennines were com- 
missioned to perform for all the animal com- 
munities of Italy, in Numitor's time. 

To enable the vulture to accomplish the 
work assigned him, he is endowed with an 
inconceivable strength of wing, to sustain 
his flight over the vast distances which he 
has to traverse, and up to the vast elevations 
to which he must sometimes soar ; and also 
with some mysterious and extraordinary 
sense, whether of sight or smell, to enable 
him readily to find, at any hour, the spot 
where his presence is required, however re- 
mote or however hidden it may be. Guided 
by this instinct, he flies from time to time 
with a company of his fellows, from moun- 
tain to mountain, or wheels slowly in vast 



THE FOUNDING OF ROME. 169 

circles over the plains — surveying the whole 
surface of the ground, and assuredly finding 
his work ; — finding it too equally easily, 
whether it lie exposed in the open field, or 
is hidden, no matter how secretly, in forest, 
thicket, grove or glen. 

It was, to certain appearances, indicated 
in the flight of these birds — such as the num- 
ber that were seen at a time, the quarter of 
the heavens in which they appeared, the 
direction in which they flew, as from left 
to right or from right to left — that the 
people of Numitor's day were accustomed 
to look for omens and auguries. So Romu- 
lus and Remus took their stations on the 
hills which they had severally chosen, each 
surrounded by a company of his own adher- 
ents and friends, and began to watch the 
skies. It was agreed that the decision of 
the question between the two hills should 
be determined by the omens which should 
appear to the respective observers stationed 
upon them. 

But it happened, unfortunately, that the 
rules for the interpretation of auguries and 
omens were far too indefinite and vague to 
answer the purpose for which they were 
now appealed to. The most unequivocal 
distinctness and directness in giving its re- 
sponses is a very essential requisite in any 
tribunal that is called upon as an umpire, to 
settle disputes ; while the ancient auguries 
and oracles were always susceptible of a 
great variety of interpretations. When 



170 ROMULUS. 

Remus and Romulus commeuced their watch 
no vultures were to be seen from either hill. 
They waited till evening, still none appeared. 
They continued to watch through the night. 
In the morning a messenger came over from 
the Palatine hill to Remus on the Aventine, 
informing him that vultures had appeared 
to Romulus. Remus did not believe it. At 
last, however, the birds really came into 
view ; a flock of six were seen by Remus, 
and afterward one of twelve by Romulus. 
The observations were then suspended, and 
the parties came together to confer in respect 
to the result; but the dispute, instead of 
being settled, was found to be in a worse 
condition than ever. The point now to be 
determined was whether six vultures seen 
first, or twelve seen afterward, were the 
better omen, that is whether numbers, or 
simple priority of appearance, should decide 
the question. In contending in respect to 
this nice point the brothers became more 
angry with each other than ever. Their 
respective partisans took sides in the contest, 
which resulted finally in an open and vio- 
lent collision. Romulus and Remus them- 
selves seem to have commenced the affray 
by attacking one another. Faustulus, their 
foster-father, who, from having had the 
care of them from their earliest infancy, 
felt for them an almost parental affection, 
rushed between them to prevent them from 
shedding each other's blood. He was struck 
down and killed on the spot, by some un- 



Tilt: FOUNDING OF HOME. 171 

known hand. A brother of Faustuius too, 
named Plistinus, who had lived near to him, 
and had known the boys from their infancy, 
and had often assisted in taking care of 
them, was killed in the endeavor to aid his 
brother to appease the tumult. 

At length the disturbance was quelled. 
The result of the conflict was, however, to 
show that Romulus and his party were the 
strongest. Romulus accordingly went on to 
build the walls of the city at the spot which 
he had first chosen. The lines were marked 
out, and the excavations were commenced 
with great ceremony. 

In laying out the work, the first thing to 
be done was to draw the lines of what was 
called the pomoerium. The pomoerium was 
a sort of symbolical wall, and was formed 
simply by turning a furrow with a plow all 
around the city, at a considerable distance 
from the real walls, for the purpose, not of 
establishing lines of defense, but of marking 
out what were to be the limits of the corpo- 
ration, so to speak, for legal and ceremonial 
purposes. Of course, the pomoerium in- 
cluded a much greater space than the real 
walls, and the people were allowed to build 
houses anywhere within this outer inclosure, 
or even without it, though not very near to 
it. Those who built thus were, of course, 
not protected in case of an attack, and of 
course they would, in such case, be compelled 
to abandon their houses, and retreat for 
safety within the proper walls. 



172 KOMULTTS. 

So Romulus proceeded to mark out the 
pomoerium of the city, employing in the 
work the ceremonies customary on such 
occasions. The plow used was made of 
copper, and for a team to draw it a bullock 
and a heifer were yoked together. Men 
appointed for the purpose followed the plow, 
and carefully turned over the clods toward 
the wall of the city. This seems to have 
been considered an essential part of the 
ceremony. At the places where roads were 
to pass in toward the gates of the city, the 
plow was lifted out of the ground and carried 
over the requisite space, so as to leave the 
turf at those points unbroken. This was a 
necessary precaution ; for there was a certain 
consecrating influence that was exerted by 
this ceremonial plowing which hallowed the 
ground wherever it passed in a manner that 
would very seriously interfere with its use- 
fulness as a public road. 

The form of the space inclosed by the 
pomoerium, as Romulus plowed it, was nearly 
square, and it included not merely the Pala- 
tine hill itself, but a considerable portion of 
level land around it. 

Though Romulus thus seemed to have 
conquered, in the strife with Remus, the 
difficulty was not yet fully settled. Remus 
was very little disposed to acquiesce in his 
brother's assumed superiority over him. He 
was sullen, morose, and ill at ease, and was 
inclined to take little part in the proceedings 
which were going on. Finally an occasion 



THE FOUNDING OF ROME. 173 

occurred which produced a crisis, and brought 
the rivalry and enmity of the brothers sud- 
denly and forever to an end. Eemus was 
one day standing by a part of the wall which 
his brother's workmen were building, and 
expressing, in various ways, and with great 
freedom, his opinions of his brother's plans ; 
and finally he began to speak contemptuously 
of the wall which the workmsn were build- 
ing. Romulus all the time was standing by. 
At length, in order to enforce what he said 
about the insufficiency of the work, Eemus 
leaped over a portion of it, saying, " This is 
the way the enemy will leap over your wall." 
Hereupon Romulus seized a mattock from 
the hands of one of the laborers, and struck 
his brother down to the ground with it, 
saying, " And this is the way that we will 
kill them if they do." Remus was killed by 
the blow. 

As soon as the deed was done, Romulus 
was at once overwhelmed with remorse and 
horror at the atrocity of the crime which he 
had been so suddenly led to commit. His 
anguish was so great for a time that he re- 
fused all food, and he could not sleep. He 
caused the dead body of Remus, and also 
those of Faustulus and of Plistinus, the 
brother of Faustulus, to be buried with the 
most solemn and imposing funeral cere- 
monies, so as to render all possible honor to 
their memory ; and then, not satisfied with 
this, he instituted and celebrated certain 
religious rites, to prevent the ghosts of the 



174 KOMULUS. 

deceased from coming back to haunt him. 
The ghosts, or specters of the dead that 
came back to haunt and terrify the living 
were called lemures. Hence the celebration 
which Romulus ordained was called the 
Lemuria, and it continued to be annually 
observed in Rome during the whole period 
of its subsequent history. 

Precisely what the ceremonies were which 
Romulus performed to appease the spirit of 
his brother cannot now be ascertained, as 
there was no particular description of them 
recorded. Bat the Lemuria, as afterward per- 
formed, were frequently described by Roman 
writers, and they were of a very curious and 
extraordinary character. The time for the 
celebration of these rites was in May, the 
anniversary, as was supposed, of the days in 
which Romulus originally celebrated them. 
The Lemurial ceremonies extended through 
three days, or rather nights, although for 
some curious reason or other, they were al- 
ternate and not consecutive nights. They 
were the nights of the ninth, eleventh, and 
thirteenth of May. The ceremonies were 
performed in the night, for the reason that 
it was in the dark hours that ghosts and 
goblins were accustomed, as was supposed, 
to roam about the world to haunt and terrify 
men. 

The ceremonies performed on these occa- 
sions are thus described. They commenced 
at midnight. The father of the family would 
rise at that hour and go out at the door of 



THE FOUNDING OF ROME. 175 

the house, making certain gesticulations and 
signals with his hands, which were supposed 
to have the effect of keeping the specters 
away. He then washed his hands three times 
in pure spring water. Then he filled his 
mouth with a certain kind of black beans 
for which ghosts were supposed to have some 
particular fondness. Being thus provided he 
would walk along, taking the beans out of 
his mouth as he walked, and throwing them 
behind him. The specters were supposed 
to gather up these beans as he threw them 
down. He must, however, by no means look 
round to see them. He then, after speaking 
certain mysterious and cabalistic words, 
washed his hands a^ain, and then making 
a frightful noise by striking brass basins 
together, he shouted out nine times, " Ghosts 
of this house begone ! " This was supposed 
effectually to drive the specters away — an 
opinion which Was always abundantly con- 
firmed by the fact ; for on looking round 
after this vociferated adjuration, the man 
always found that the specters were gone ! 
When by these ceremonies, or ceremonies 
such as these, Romulus had appeased the 
spirit of his brother, and those of the guard- 
ians of his childhood, his mind became 
more composed, and he turned his attention 
once more toward the building of the city. 
The party of Remus now, of course, since it 
was deprived of its head, no longer main- 
tained itself, but was gradually broken up 
and merged in the general mass. Romulus 

13 — Romulna 



176 ROMULUS. 

became the sole leader of the enterprise, and 
immediately turned his attention to the meas- 
ures to be adopted for a more complete and 
effectual organization of the comm unity- 
over which he found himself presiding. 

In respect to Remus, it ought perhaps to 
be added, that after his death a story was 
circulated in Rome that it was a man named 
Celer, and not Romulus, that killed him. This 
story has not, however, been generally be- 
lieved. It has been thought more probable 
that Romulus himself, or some of his par- 
tisans and friends, invented and circulated 
the story of Celer, in order to screen him in 
some degree from the reproach of so un- 
natural a crime as the killing of a brother so 
near and dear to him as Remus had been ; — 
a brother who had shared his infancy with 
him, who had slept with him, at the same 
time, in the arms of his mother, who had 
floated with him down the Tiber in the same 
ark, been saved from death by the same 
miraculous intervention, and through all the 
years of infancy, childhood, and youth, had 
been his constant playmate, companion, and 
friend. The crime was as much more atro- 
cious than any ordinary fratricide, as Remus 
had been nearer to Romulus than any 
ordinary brother. 




CHAPTER X. 



ORGANIZATION. 



There has been a great deal of philo- 
sophical discussion, and much debate, among 
historians and chronologists, in attempting 
to fix the precise year in which Romulus 
commenced the building of Rome. The 
difficulty arises from the fact, that no reg- 
ular records of public events were made in 
those ancient days. In modern times, such 
records are very systematically kept,— an 
express object of them being to preserve and 
perpetuate a knowledge of the exact truth 
in respect to the time, and the attendant 
circumstances, relating to all great transac- 
tions. On the other hand, the memory of 
public events in early periods of the world, 
was preserved only through tradition ; and 
tradition cares little for the exact and the 
true. She seeks only for what is entertain- 
ing. Her function being simply to give 
pleasure to successive generations of listeners, 
by exciting their curiosity and wonder with 
tales, — which, the more strange and romantic 
they are, the better they are suited to her 
purpose — she concerns herself very little with 
such simple verities as dates and names. The 

177 



178 ROMULUS. 

exposure of the twin infants of Rhea, suppos- 
ing such an event to have actually happened, 
she remembered well, and repeated the nar- 
rative of it — adorning it, doubtless, with 
many embellishments — from age to age, so 
that the whole story comes down to modern 
times in full detail ; but as to the time when 
the event took place, she gave herself no 
concern. The date would have added noth- 
ing to the romance of the story, and thus it 
was neglected and forgotten. 

In subsequent times, however, when regu- 
lar historical annals began to be recorded, 
chronologists attempted to reason backward, 
from events whose periods w^ere known, 
through various data which they ingeniously 
obtained from the preceding and less formal 
narratives, until they obtained the dates of 
earlier events by a species of calculation. 
In this way the time for the building of Rome 
was determined to be about the year 754 be- 
fore Christ. As to Romulus himself, the tra- 
dition is that he was but eighteen or twenty 
years old when he commenced the building 
of it. If this is true, his extreme youth goes 
far to palliate some of the w^rongs which he 
perpetrated — wrongs which would have been 
far more inexcusable if committed with the 
deliberate purpose of middle life, than if 
prompted by the unthinking impulses and 
passions of eighteen. 

A certain Roman philosopher, named Yar- 
ro, who lived some centuries after the build- 
ing of the city, conceived of a very ingenious 



ORGANIZATION. 179 

plan for discovering the year in which Rom- 
ulus was born. It was this. By means of 
the science of astrology, as practised in those 
days, certain learned magicians used to pre- 
dict what the life and fortunes of any man 
would be, from the aspects and phases of the 
planets and other heavenly bodies at the 
time of his birth. The idea of Varro was to 
reverse this process in the case of Romulus ; 
that is, to deduce from the known facts of 
his history what must have been the relative 
situations of the planets and stars when he 
came into the world ! He accordingly ap- 
plied to a noted astrologer to work out the 
problem for him. Given, a history of the 
incidents and events occurring to the man in 
his progress through life; required, the ex- 
act condition of the skies when the child 
was born. In other words, the astrologer 
was to determine what must have been the 
relative positions of the sun, moon, and stars, 
at the birth of Romulus, in order to produce 
a being whose life should exhibit such trans- 
actions and events as those which appeared 
in Romulus's subsequent history. When the 
astrologer had thus ascertained the condition 
of the skies at the time in question, the as- 
tronomers, as Yarro concluded, could easily 
calculate the month and the year when the 
combination must have occurred. 

Now, it was the custom in those days to 
reckon by Olympiads, which were periods of 
four years, the series commencing with a 
great victory at a foot-race in Greece, won 



180 ftOMULTTS. 

by a man named Coroebus, from which event 
originated the Olympian games, which were 
afterward celebrated every four years, and 
which in subsequent ages became so re- 
nowned. The time when Coroebus ran his 
race, and thus furnished an era for all the sub- 
sequent chronologists and historians of his 
country, is generally regarded as about the 
year 776 before Christ ; and the result of the 
calculations of Varro's astrologer, and of the 
astronomers w^ho perfected it, was, that to 
lead such a life as Romulus led, a man must 
have been born at a time corresponding with 
the first year of the second Olympiad ; that 
is, taking off from 776, four years, for the 
first Olympaid, the first year of the second 
Olympaid would be 772 ; this would make 
the time of his birth 772 before Christ ; and 
then deducting eighteen years more, for the 
age of Romulus when he began to build his 
wall, we have 75i before Christ as the era 
of the foundation of Rome. This method 
of determining a point in chronology seems 
so absurd, according to the ideas of the present 
day, that we can hardly resist the conclusion, 
that Yarro, in making his investigation, was 
really guided by other and more satisfactory 
modes of determining the point, and that the 
horoscope was not what he actually relied 
upon. However this may be, the era which 
he fixed upon has been very generally re- 
ceived, though many others have been pro- 
posed by the different learned men who have 
successively investigated the question. 



ORGANIZATION. 18-1 

According to the accounts given by the 
early writers, the constructions which Romu- 
lus and his companions made were of a very 
rude and simple character ; si^h as might 
have been expected from a company of 
boys : for boys we ought perhaps to con- 
sider them all, since it is not to be presumed 
that the troop, in respect to age and experi- 
ence, would be much in advance of the lead- 
ers. The wall which they built about the 
city was probably only a substantial stone 
fence, and their houses were huts and hovels. 
Even the palace, for there was a building 
erected for Eomulus himself which was 
called the palace, was made, it is said, of 
rushes. Perhaps the meaning is that it was 
thatched with rushes, — or possibly the ex- 
pression refers to a mode of building some- 
times adopted in the earlier stages of civiliza- 
tion, in which straw, or rushes, or some 
similar material is mixed w T ith mud or clay 
to help bind the mass together, the whole 
being afterward dried in the sun. "Walls 
thus made have been found to possess much 
more strength and durability than would 
be supposed possible for such a material to 
attain. 

However this may be, the hamlet of huts 
which Romulus and his wild coadjutors 
built and walled in, must have appeared, at 
the time, to all observers, a very rude and 
imperfect attempt at building a city ; in fact 
it must have seemed to them, if it is true 
that Romulus was at that time only eight- 



182 KOMULUS. 

een years old, more like a frolic of thought- 
less boys than a serious enterprise of men. 
Romulus, however, whatever others may 
nave thought of his work, was wholly in 
earnest. He felt that he was a prince, and 
proud of his birth, and fully conscious of 
his intellectual and personal power, he de- 
termined that he would have a kingdom. 

It seems, however, that thus far he had 
not been considered as possessing anything 
like regal authority over his company of 
followers, but had been regarded only as a 
sort of chieftain exercising an undefined and 
temporary power ; for as soon as the huts 
were built and the inclosures made, he is 
said to have convened an assembly of the 
people, for consultation in respect to the 
plan of government that they should form. 
Romulus introduced the business of this 
meeting by a speech appropriate to the oc- 
casion, which speech is reported by an an- 
cient historian somewhat as follows. Wheth- 
er Romulus actually spoke the words thus 
attributed to him, or whether the report 
contains only what the reporter himself im- 
agined him to say, there is now no means of 
knowing. 

" We have now," said Romulus, according 
to this record, " completed the building of 
our city, so far as at present we are able to 
do it ; and it must be confessed that if we 
were required to depend for protection 
against a serious attack from an enemy, on 
the height of our walls, or on their strength 



ORGANIZATION. 183 

and solidity, our prospects would not be 
very encouraging. But our walls we must 
remember are not what we rely upon. No 
walls can be so high, that an enemy cannot 
scale them. The dependence must be after 
all on the men within the city, and not on 
the ramparts and entrenchments which sur- 
round it, whatever those ramparts and en- 
trenchments may be. We must therefore 
rely upon ourselves, for our safety ; — upon 
our valor, our discipline, our union and har- 
mony. It is courage and energy in the 
people, not strength in outward defenses, on 
which the safety and prosperity of a State 
must depend. 

" The great work before us therefore is 
yet to be done. We have to organize a 
government under which order and disci- 
pline may come in, to control and direct our 
energies, and prepare us to meet whatever 
future exigencies may arise, whether of 
peace or war. What form shall be given to 
this government is the question that you 
have now to consider. I have learned by 
inquiry that there are various modes of 
government adopted among men, and be- 
tween these we have now to decide. Shall 
our commonwealth be governed by one 
man ? Or shall we select a certain number 
of the wisest and bravest of the citizens, and 
commit the administration of public affairs 
to them ? Or, in the third place, shall we 
commit the management of the government 
to the control of the people at large ? Each 



184 ROMULUS. 

of these three forms has its advantages, and 
each is attended with its own peculiar dan- 
gers. You are to choose between them. 
Only when the decision is once made, let us 
all unite in maintaining the government 
which shall be established, whatever its 
form may be." 

The result of the deliberation which fol- 
lowed, after the delivery of this address, was 
that the government of the state should be, 
like the government of Alba, under which 
the followers of Komulus had been born, a 
monarchy ; and that Eomulus himself should 
be king. He was a prince by birth, an in- 
heritor of regal rank and power, by regular 
succession, from a line of kings. . He had 
shown himself, too, by his deeds, to be 
worthy of power. He was courageous, en- 
ergetic, sagacious, and universally esteemed. 
It was decided accordingly that he should 
be king, and he w^as proclaimed such by all 
the assembled multitude, with long and loud 
acclamations. 

Notwithstanding the apparent unanimity 
and earnestness of the people, however, in 
calling Romulus to the throne, he evinced, 
as the story goes, the proper degree of that 
reluctance and hesitation which a suitable 
regard to appearances seems in all ages to 
require of public men w r hen urged to accept 
of power. He was thankful to the people 
for the marks of their confidence, but he 
could not consent to assume the responsibil- 
ities and prerogatives of power until the 



ORGANIZATION. 185 

choice made by his countrymen had been 
confirmed by the divinities of the land. So 
he resolved on instituting certain solemn 
religious ceremonies, during the progress of 
which he hoped to receive some manifesta- 
tion of the divine will. These ceremonies 
consisted principally of sacrifices which he 
caused to be offered on the plain near the 
city. While Romulus was engaged in these 
services, the expected token of the divine 
approval appeared in a supernatural light 
which shone upon his hand. At least it was 
said that such a light was seen, and the ap- 
pearing of it was considered as clearly con- 
firming the right of Romulus to the throne. 
He no longer made any objection to assum- 
ing the government of the new city as its 
acknowledged king. 

The first object to which he gave his at- 
tention was the organization of the people, 
and the framing of the general constitution 
of society. The community over which he 
was called to preside had consisted thus far 
of very heterogeneous and discordant ma- 
terials. Yast numbers of the people were 
of the humblest and most degraded condi- 
tion, consisting of ignorant peasants, some 
stupid, others turbulent and ungovernable ; 
and of refugees from justice, such as thieves, 
robbers, and outlaws of every degree. But 
then, on the other hand, there were many 
persons of standing and respectability. The 
sons of families of wealth and influence in 
Alba had, in many cases, joined the expedi- 



186 ROMULUS. 

tion, and at last, when the building of the 
city had advanced so far as to make it ap- 
pear that the enterprise might succeed, more 
men of age and character came to join it, so 
that Romulus found himself, when he for- 
mally assumed the kingly power, at the head 
of a community which contained the ele- 
ments of a very respectable commonwealth. 
These elements were, however, thus far all 
mingled together in complete confusion, and 
the work that was first to be done was to 
adopt some plan for classifying and arrang- 
ing them. 

It is most probable, as a matter of fact, 
that the organization and the institutions 
which in subsequent times appeared in the 
Roman state, were not deliberately planned 
and formally introduced by Romulus at the 
outset, but that they gradually grew up in 
the progress of time, and that afterward 
historians and philosophers, in speculating 
upon them at their leisure, carried back the 
history of them to thee arliest times, in 
order, by so doing, to honor the founder of 
the city, and also to exalt and aggrandize 
the institutions themselves in public estima- 
tion, by celebrating the antiquity and dig- 
nity of their origin. 

The institutions which Romulus actually 
founded, were of a very republican charac- 
ter, if the accounts of subsequent writers 
are to be believed. He established, it is true, 
a gradation of ranks, but the most impor- 
tant offices, civil and military, were filled, 



ORGANIZATION. 187 

it is said, by election on the part of the 
people. In the first place, the whole popu- 
lation was divided into three portions, which 
were called tribes, which word was formed 
from the Latin word tres, meaning three. 
These tribes chose each three presiding of- 
ficers, selecting for the purpose the oldest 
and most distinguished of their number. It 
is probable, in fact, that Romulus himself 
really made the selection, and that the action 
of the people was confined to some sort of 
expression of assent and concurrence ; for it 
is difficult to imagine how any other kind 
of election than this could be possible among 
so rude and ignorant a multitude. The 
tribes were then subdivided each into thirty 
counts or counties, and each of these like- 
wise elected its head. Thus there was a 
large body of magistrates or chieftains ap- 
pointed, ninety-nine in number, namely, 
nine heads of tribes and ninety heads of 
counties. Eomulus himself added one to 
the number, of his own independent selec- 
tion, which made the hundredth. The men 
thus chosen, constituted what was called the 
senate. They formed the great legislative 
council of the nation. They and the families 
descending from them became, in subse- 
quent times, an aristocratic and privileged 
class, called the Patricians. The remaining 
portion of the population were called Ple- 
beians. 

The Plebeians comprised, of course, the 
industrial and useful classes, and were in 



188 ROMULUS. 

rank and station inferior to the Patricians. 
They were, however, not all upon a level 
with each other, for they were divided into 
two great classes, called patrons and clients. 
The patrons were the employers, the pro- 
prietors, the men of influence and capital. 
The clients were the employed, the depend- 
ent, the poor. The clients were to perform 
services of various kinds for the patrons, 
and the patrons were to reward, to protect, 
and to defend the clients. All these arrange- 
ments Romulus is said to have ordained by 
his enactments, and thus introduced as ele- 
ments in the social constitution of the state. 
It is more probable, however, that instead 
of being thus expressly established, by the 
authority of Romulus as a lawgiver, they 
gradually grew up of themselves, perhaps 
with some fostering attention and care on 
his part, and possibly under some positive 
regulation of law. For such important and 
complicated relations as these are not of a 
nature to be easily -called into existence and 
action, in an extended and unorganized com- 
munity, by the mere fiat of a military chief- 
tain. 

Perhaps, however, it is not intended by 
the ancient historians, in referring all these 
complicated arrangements of the Roman 
civil polity to the enactments of Romulus, to 
convey the idea that he introduced them at 
once in all their completeness, at the outset 
of his reign. Romulus continued king of 
Rome for nearly forty years, and instead of 



ORGANIZATION. 189 

making formal and positive enactments, he 
may have gradually introduced the arrange- 
ments ascribed to him, as usages which he 
fostered and encouraged, — confirming and 
sanctioning them from to time, when oc- 
casion required, by edicts and laws. 

However this may have been, it is certain 
that Romulus, in the course of his reign, 
laid the foundation of the future greatness 
and glory of Rome, by the energy with 
which he acted in introducing order, system, 
and discipline into the community which he 
found gathered around him. He seems to 
have had the sagacity to perceive from the 
outset that the great evil and danger which 
he had to fear was the prevalence of the 
spirit of disorder and misrule among his fol- 
lowers. In fact, nothing but tumult and 
confusion was to have been expected from 
such a lawless horde as his, and even after 
the city was built, the presumption must 
have been very strong in the mind of any 
considerate and prudent man, against the 
possibility of ever regulating and controlling 
such a mass of heterogeneous and discordant 
materials, by any human means. Romulus 
saw, however, that in effecting this purpose 
lay the only hope of the success of his en- 
terprise, and he devoted himself with great 
assiduity and care, and at the same time 
with great energy and success, to the work 
of organizing it. The great leading objects 
of his life, from the time that he commenced 
the government of the new city, were to 



190 ROMULUS. 

arrange and regulate social institutions, to 
establish laws, to introduce discipline, to 
teach and accustom men to submit to au- 
thority, and to bring in the requirements of 
law, and the authority of the various rec- 
ognized relations of social life, to control 
and restrain the wayward impulses of the 
natural heart. 

As a part of this system of policy, he laid 
great stress upon the parental and family 
relation. He saw in the tie which binds the 
father to the child and the child to the 
father, a natural bond which he foresaw 
would greatly aid him in keeping the tur- 
bulent and boisterous propensities of human 
nature under some proper control. He ac- 
cordingly magnified and confirmed the nat- 
ural force of parental authority by adding 
the sanctions of law to it. He defined and 
established the power of the father to govern 
and control the son, rightly considering that 
the father is the natural ally of the state in 
restraining yctang men from violence, and 
enforcing habits of industry and order upon 
them 3 at an age when they most need con- 
trol. He clothed parents, therefore, with 
authority to fulfil this function, consider- 
ing that what he thus aided them to do, was 
so much saved for the civil magistrate and 
the state. In fact, he carried this so far 
that it is said that the dependence of the 
child upon the father, under the institutions 
of Romulus, was more complete, and was 
protracted to a later period than was the 



ORGANIZATION. 191 

case under the laws of any other nation. 
The power of the father over his household 
was supreme. He was a magistrate, so far 
as his children were concerned, and could 
thus not only require their services, and 
inflict light punishments for disobedience 
upon them, as with us, but he could sentence 
them to the severest penalties of the law, if 
guilty of crime. 

The laws were equally stringent in respect 
to the marriage tie. Death was the penalty 
for the violation of the marriage vows. All 
property belonging to the husband and to 
the wife was held by them in common, and 
the wife, if she survived the husband, and if 
the husband died without a will, became 
his sole heir. In a word, the laws of Rom- 
ulus evince a very strong desire on the 
part of the legislator to sustain the sacred- 
ness and to magnify the importance of the 
family tie; and to avail himself of those 
instinctive principles of obligation and duty 
which so readily arise in the human mind 
out of the various relations of the family 
state, in the plans which he formed for sub- 
duing the impulses and regulating the action 
of his rude community. 

He devoted great attention too to the in- 
stitutions of religion. He knew well that 
such lawless and impetuous spirits as his 
could never be fully subdued and held in 
proper subordination to the rules of social 
order and moral duty, without the influence 
of motives drawn from the spiritual world ; 

1 4— Romulus 



192 BOMULUS. 

and he accordingly adopted vigorous meas- 
ures for confirming and perpetuating such 
religious observances as were at that time 
observed, and in introducing others. Every 
public act which he performed was always 
accompanied and sanctioned by religious 
solemnities. 'The rites and ceremonies which 
he instituted seem puerile to us, but they 
were full of meaning and of efficacy in the 
view of those who performed them. There 
was, for example, a class of religious func- 
tionaries called augurs, whose office it was 
to interpret the divine will by means of cer- 
tain curious indications which it was their 
special profession to understand. There 
were three of these augurs, and they were 
employed on all public occasions, both in 
peace and war, to ascertain from the omens 
whether the enterprise or the work in regard 
to which they were consulted was or was 
not favored by the councils of heaven. If 
the augury was propitious the work was en- 
tered upon with vigor and confidence. If 
otherwise, it was postponed or abandoned. 

The omens which the augurs observed 
were of various kinds, being drawn some- 
times from certain -peculiarities in the form 
and structure of the internal organs of 
animals offered in sacrifice, sometimes from 
the appearance of birds in the sky, their 
numbers or the direction of their flight, and 
sometimes from the forms of clouds, the ap- 
pearance of the lightning, and the sound of 
the thunder, Whenever the augurs were to 




Romulus, face p. 192 



Rhea Sylvia Feeding the Sacred Fire. {Seep. 121.) 



ORGANIZATION. 193 

take the auspices from any of the signs of 
the sky, the process was this. They would 
go with solemn ceremony to some high place 
— in Rome there was a station expressly con- 
secrated to this purpose on the Capitoline 
hill, — and there, with a sort of magical wand 
w r hich they had for the purpose, one of the 
number would determine and indicate the 
four quarters of the heaven, pointing out in 
a solemn manner the directions of east, west, 
north and south. The augur would then 
take his stand with his back to the w T est and 
his face of course to the east. The north 
would then be on his left hand and the south 
at his right. He would then, in this posi- 
tion watch for the signs. If it was from the 
thunder that the auspices were to be taken, 
the augur would listen to hear from what 
quarter of the heavens it came. If the light- 
ning appeared in the east and the sound of 
the thunder seemed to come from the north- 
ward, the presage was favorable. So it was 
if the chain of lightning seen in the sky ap- 
peared to pass from cloud to cloud above, 
instead of descending to the ground. On 
the other hand, thunder sounding as if it 
came from the southward, and lightning 
striking down to the earth, were both un- 
propitious omens. As to birds, some were 
of good omen, as vultures, eagles and wood- 
peckers. Others were evil, as ravens and 
owls. Various inferences were drawn too 
from the manner in which the birds, that 
\ appeared in the air, were seen to fly, and 



194 ROMULUS. 

from the sound of their note at the time 
when the observation was made. 

By these and many similar means the gov- 
ernment of Romulus vainly endeavored to 
ascertain the will of heaven in respect to the 
plans and enterprises in which they were 
called upon from time to time to engage. 
There was perhaps in these observances much 
imposture, and much folly ; still they could 
only have been sustained, in their influence 
and ascendency over the minds of the people, 
by a sincere veneration on their part for 
some unseen and spiritual power, and a rev- 
erent desire to conform the public measures 
of their government to what they supposed 
to be the divine will. 

By such measures as we have thus de- 
scribed Romulus soon produced order out of 
confusion within his little commonwealth. 
The enterprise which he had undertaken and 
the great success which had thus far followed 
it, attracted great attention, and he soon 
found that great numbers began to come in 
from all the surrounding country to join 
him. Many of these were persons of still 
worse character than those who had adhered 
to him at first, and he soon found that to 
admit them indiscriminately into the city 
would be to endanger the process of organ- 
ization which was now so well begun. He 
accordingly set apart a hill near to his city 
called the Capitoline hill, as an asylum for 
them, where they could remain in safety 
under regulations suitable to their condition, 



OKGANIZATION. 195 

and without interfering with the arrange- 
ments which he had made for the rest. This 
asylum soon became a very attractive place 
for all the vagabonds, outlaws, thieves and 
robbers of the country. Bomulus welcomed 
them all, and as fast as they came he busied 
himself with plans to furnish them with em- 




Early Roman Ploughing. 

ployment and subsistence. He enlisted some 
of them in his army. Some he employed to 
cultivate the ground in the territory belong- 
ing to the city. Others were engaged as 
servants for the people within the walls — 
being taken into the city, in small numbers, 
from time to time, as fast as they could be 
safely received. In process of time, how- 
ever, the walls of the city were extended so 
as to include the Capitoline hill, and thus at 
last the whole mass was brought into Rome 
together. 




WIVES. 



Every reader who has made even the 
smallest beginning in the study of ancient 
history, must be acquainted, in general, with 
the mode which Romulus adopted to provide 
the people of his city with wives, by the 
transaction which is commonly called in 
history the rape of the Sabines. The deed 
itself, as it actually occurred, may perhaps 
have been one of great rudeness, violence, 
and cruelty. If so, the historians who de- 
scribed it contrived to soften the character 
of it, and to divest it in a great measure of 
the repulsive features which might have been 
supposed to characterize such a transaction, 
for, according to the narrative which they 
give us, the whole proceeding was conducted 
in such a manner as to evince not only great 
ingenuity and sagacity on the part of Rom- 
ulus and his government, but also great mod- 
eration and humanity. The circumstances, 
as the historians relate them, were these : 

As might naturally be supposed from the 
manner in which the company which formed 
the population of Rome had been collected, 
it consisted at first almost wholly of men. 

196 



wives. 197 

The laws and regulations referred to in the 
last chapter, in respect to the family relation, 
were those framed after the organization of 
the community had become somewhat ad- 
vanced, since at the outset there could be 
very few families, inasmuch as the company 
which first met together to build the city, 
consisted simply of an army of young men. 
It is true that among those who joined them 
at first there were some men of middle life 
and some families, — still, as is always the 
case with new cities and countries suddenly 
and rapidly settled, the population consisted 
almost entirely of men. 

It was necessary that the men should have 
wives. There were several reasons for this. 
First, it was necessary for the comfort and 
happiness of the people themselves. A com- 
munity of mere men is gloomy and desolate. 
Secondly, for the continuance and perpetuity 
of the state it was necessary that there 
should be wives and children, so that when 
one generation should have passed away 
there might be another to succeed it. And, 
thirdly, for the preservation of order and 
law. Men unmarried are, in the mass, pro- 
verbially ungovernable. Nothing is so ef- 
fectual in keeping a citizen away from scenes 
of tumult and riot as a wife and children at 
home. The fearful violence of the riots and 
insurrections of which the city of Paris has 
so often been the scene, is explained, in a 
great degree, by the circumstance that so 
immense a proportion of the population are 



198 ROMULUS. 

unmarried. They have no homes, and no 
defenseless wives and children to fear for, 
and so they fear nothing, but give themselves 
up, in times of public excitement, to the 
wildest impulses of passion. Romulus seems 
to have understood this, and his first care 
was to provide the way by which as many 
as possible of his people should be mar- 
ried. 

The first measure which he adopted, was 
to send ambassadors around to the neighbor- 
ing states, soliciting alliances with them, and 
stipulations allowing of intermarriages be- 
tween his people and theirs. The proposal 
seemed not unreasonable, and it was made 
in an unassuming and respectful manner. 
In the message which Romulus commissioned 
the ambassadors to deliver, he admitted that 
his colony was yet small, and by no means 
equal in influence and power to the king- 
doms whose alliance he desired ; but he re- 
minded those whom he addressed that great 
results came sometimes in the end from very 
inconsiderable beginnings, and that their 
enterprise thus far, though yet in its infancy, 
had been greatly prospered, and was plainly 
an object of divine favor, and that the time 
might not be far distant when the new state 
would be able fully to reciprocate such favors 
as it might now receive. 

The neighboring kings to whom these em- 
bassages were sent rejected the proposals 
with derision. They did not even give seri- 
ous answers, obviously considering the new 



wives. 199 

city as a mere temporary gathering and en- 
campment of adventurers and outlaws, which 
would be as transient as it was rude and 
irregular. They looked to see it break up 
as suddenly and tumultuously as it had been 
formed. They accordingly sent back word 
to Romulus that he must resort to the same 
plan to get women for his city that he had 
adopted to procure recruits of men. He 
must open an asylum for them. The low 
and the dissolute would come flocking to 
him then, they said, from all parts, and vaga- 
bond women would make just the kind of 
wives for vagabond men. 

Of course, the young men of the city were 
aroused to an extreme pitch of indignation 
at receiving this reponse. They were clamor- 
ous for war. They wished Romulus to lead 
them out against some of these cities at once, 
and allow them at the same time to revenge 
the insults which they had received, and to 
provide themselves with wives by violence, 
since they could not obtain them by solicita- 
tion. But Romulus restrained their ardor, 
saying that they must do nothing rashly, 
and promising to devise a better w r ay than 
theirs to attain the end. 

The plan which he devised was to invite 
the people of the surrounding states and 
cities both men and women, to come to Rome, 
with a view of seizing some favorable occa- 
sion for capturing the women while they 
were there, and driving the men away. The 
difficulty in the w r ay of the execution of this 



200 EOMULUS. 

plan was obviously to induce the people to 
come, and especially to bring the young 
women with them. The native timidity of 
the maidens, joined to the contemptuous 
feelings which their fathers and brothers 
cherished, in regard to everything pertain- 
ing to the new city, would very naturally 
keep them away, unless something could be 
devised which would exert a very strong 
attraction. 

Romulus waited a little time, in order that 
any slight excitement which had been pro- 
duced by his embassy should have had time 
to subside, and then he made, or pretended 
to make, a great discovery in a field not far 
from his town. This discovery was the 
finding of an ancient altar of Neptune, un- 
der ground. The altar was brought to view 
by some workmen who were making exca- 
vations at the place. How it came to be un- 
der ground, and who had built it, no one 
knew. The rumor of this great discovery 
was spread immediately in every direction. 
Romulus attached great importance to the 
event. The altar had undoubtedly been 
built, he thought, by the ancient inhabitants 
of the country, and the finding it was a very 
momentous occurrence. It was proper that 
the occasion should be solemnized by suitable 
religious observances. Accordingly, arrange- 
ments were made for a grand celebration. 
In addition to the religious rites, Romulus 
proposed that a great fair should be held or 
a plain near the city at the same time, 



WIVES. 201 

Booths were erected, and the merchants of 
all the neighboring cities were invited to 
come, bringing with them such articles as 
they had for sale, and those who wished to 
buy were to come with their money. In a 
word arrangements were made for a great 
and splendid festival. 

There were to be games too, races 9 and 
wrestlings, and other athletic sports, such 
as were in vogue in those times. The celebra- 
tion was to continue for many days, and the 
games and sports were to come at the end. 
Romulus sent messengers to all the surround- 
ing country to proclaim the program of 
these entertainments, and to invite every- 
body to come ; and he adroitly arranged the 
details in such a manner that the chief attrac- 
tions for grave, sober-minded and substantial 
men should be on the earlier days of the 
show, and that the latter days should be de- 
voted to lighter amusements, such as would 
possess a charm for the young, the light- 
hearted and the happy. It was among this 
'. ast class that he naturally expected to find 
the maidens whom his men would choose in 
looking for wives. 

When the time arrived the spectacles com- 
menced. There was a great concourse at the 
outset, but the people who first came, were, 
as Eomulus supposed would be the case, 
chiefly men. They came in companies, as if 
for mutual support and protection, and they 
exhibited in a greater or less degree an air of 
suspicion, watchfulness and mistrust. They 



202 ROMULUS. 

were, however, received with great cordiality 
and kindness. They were conducted about 
the town, and were astonished to find how 
considerable a town it was. The streets, the 
houses, the walls, the temples, simple in con- 
struction as they were, far surpassed the ex- 
pectations they had formed. The visitors 
were treated with great hospitality, and en- 
tertained in a manner which, considering the 
circumstances of the case, was quite sump- 
tuous. The women and children too, who 
came on these first days, received' from all 
the Romans very special attention and re- 
gard. 

As the celebrations went on from day to 
day, a considerable change took place in the 
character and appearance of the company. 
The men ceased to be suspicious and watchful. 
Some went home, and carried such reports 
of the new city, and of the kindness, and 
hospitality, and gentle behavior of the in- 
habitants^ that new visitors came continu 
ally to see for themselves. Every day the 
proportion of stern, and suspicious men di- 
minished, and that of gay and happy-looking 
youths and maidens increased. 

In the mean time, the men of the city were 
under strict injunctions from Romulus to 
treat their guests in the most respectful 
manner, leaving them entirely at liberty to 
go and come as they pleased, except so far as 
they could detain them by treating them with 
kindness and attention, and devising new 
sports and amusements for them from day to 



wives. 203 

day. Things continued in this state for two 
or three weeks, during all which time the 
new city was a general place of resort for the 
people of all the surrounding country. Of 
course a great many agreeable acquaintances 
would naturally be formed between the young 
men of the city and their visitors, as acci- 
dental circumstances, or individual choice and 
preference brought them together ; and thus> 
without any direction on the subject from 
Romulus, each man would very naturally 
occupy himself in anticipation of the general 
seizure which he knew was coming, in mak- 
ing his selection beforehand, of the maiden 
whom he intended, when the time for the 
seizure came, to make his own ; and the 
maiden herself would probably be less terri- 
fied, and make less resistance to the attempt 
to capture her, than if it were by a perfect 
stranger that she was to be seized. 

All this Romulus seems very adroitly to 
have arranged. The time for the final exe- 
cution of the scheme was to be the last day 
of the celebration. The best spectacle and 
show of all was to take place on that day. 
The Romans were directed to come armed to 
this show, but to keep their arms carefully 
concealed beneath their garments. They 
were to do nothing till Romulus gave the sig- 
nal. He was himself to be seated upon a sort 
of throne, in a conspicuous place, where all 
could see him, presiding, as it were, over the 
assembly, while the spectacle went on ; and 
finally, when he judged that the proper mo- 



204 KOMULUS. 

raent had arrived, he was to give the signal 
by taking off a certain loose article of dress 
which he wore — a sort of cloak or mantle — 
and folding it up, and then immediately un- 
folding it again. This mantle was a sort of 
badge of royalty, and was gaily adorned 
with purple stripes upon a white ground. It 
was well adapted, therefore, to the purpose 
of being used as a signal, inasmuch as any 
motions that were made with it could be 
very easily seen. 

Everything being thus arranged, the as- 
sembly was convened, and the games and 
spectacles went on. The Romans were full 
of excitement and trepidation, each one hav- 
ing taken his place as near as possible to the 
maiden whom he was intending to seize, and 
occupying himself with keeping his eye upon 
her as closely as he could, without seeming 
to do so, and at the same time watching the 
royal mantle and every movement made by 
the wearer of it that he might catch the signal 
the instant that it should be made. All this 
time the men among the guests at the en- 
tertainment were off their guard, and 
wholly at their ease — having no suspicion 
whatever of the mine that was ready to be 
sprung beneath them. The wives, mothers, 
and children, too, were all safe, as well as 
unsuspicious of danger ; for Romulus had 
given special charge that no married woman 
should be molested. The men had had ample 
time and opportunity in the many days of 
active social intercourse which they had 



wives. 205 

enjoyed with their guests, to know who 
were free, and they were forbidden in any 
instance to take a wife away from her hus- 
band. 

At length the moment arrived for giving 
the signal. Romulus took off his mantle, 
folded it, and then unfolded it again. The 
Romans immediately drew their swords, and 
rushed forward, each to secure his own 
prize. A scene of the greatest excitement 
and confusion ensued. The whole company 
of visitors perceived of course that some 
great act of treachery was perpetrated upon 
them, but they were wholly in the dark in 
respect to the nature and design of it. They 
were chiefly unarmed, and wholly unprepared 
for so sudden an attack, and they fled in all 
directions in dismay, protecting themselves 
and their wives and children as well as they 
could, as they retired, and aiming only to 
withdraw as large a number as possible from 
the scene of violence and confusion that pre- 
vailed. The Romans were careful not to do 
them any injury, but, on the contrary, to 
allow them to withdraw, and to take away 
all the mothers and children without any 
molestation. In fact, it was the very object 
and design of the onset which they made 
upon the company, not only to seize upon 
the maidens, but to drive all the rest of their 
visitors away. The men, therefore, in the 
excitement and terror of the moment, fled in 
all directions, taking with them those whom 
they could most readily secure, who were, of 

15— Romulus 



206 ROMULUS. 

course, those whom the Romans left to them ; 
while the Romans themselves withdrew with 
their prizes, and secured them within the 
walls of the city. 

In reading this extraordinary story, we 
naturally feel a strong disposition to inquire 
what part the damsels themselves took, 
when they found themselves thus suddenly 
seized and carried away, by these daring 
and athletic assailants. Did they resist and 
struggle to get free, or did they yield them- 
selves without much opposition to their fate ? 
That they did not resist effectually is plain, 
for the Roman young men succeeded in 
carrying them away, and securing them. It 
may be that they "attempted to resist, but 
found their strength overpowered by the 
desperate and reckless violence of their cap- 
tors. And yet, it cannot be denied that wo- 
man is endued with the power of making 
by various means a very formidable opposi- 
tion to any attempt to abduct her by any 
single man, when she is thoroughly in ear- 
nest about it. How it was in fact in this 
case we have no direct information, and we 
have consequently no means of forming any 
opinion in respect to the light in which this 
this rough and lawless mode of wooing was 
regarded by the objects of it, except from 
the events which subsequently occurred. 

One incident took place while the Romans 
were seizing and carrying away their prizes, 
which was afterward long remembered, as 
it became the foundation of a custom which 



wives. 207 

continued for many centuries to form a part 
of the marriage ceremony at Rome. It 
seems that some young men — very young, 
and of a humble class — had seized a pecul- 
iarly beautiful girl — one of some note and 
consideration, too, among her country-women 
— and were carrying her away, like the rest. 
Some other young Romans of the patrician 
order seeing this, and thinking that so beau- 
tiful a maiden ought not to fall to the share 
of such plebeians, immediately set out in 
full pursuit to rescue her. The plebeians 
hurried along to escape from them, calling 
out at the same time, " Thalassio ! Thalas- 
sio ! " which means " For Thalassius, For 
Thalassius." They meant by this to convey 
the idea that the prize w^hich they had in 
possession was intended not for any one of 
their own number, but for Thalassius. Now 
Thalassius was a young noble universally 
known and very highly esteemed by all his 
countrymen, and when the rescuing party 
were thus led to suppose that the beautiful 
lady was intended for him, they acquiesced 
immediately, and desisted from their attempt 
to recapture her, and thus by the aid of their 
stratagem the plebeians carried off their prize 
in safety. When this circumstance came af- 
terward to be known, the ingenuity of the 
young plebeians, and the success of their 
maneuver, excited very general applause, 
and the exclamation, Thalassio, passed into 
a sort of proverb, and was subsequently 
adopted as an exclamation of assent and 



208 ROMULUS. 

congratulation, to be used by the spectators 
at a marriage ceremony. 

Romulus had issued most express and posi- 
tive orders that the young captives should 
be treated after their seizure in the kindest 
and most respectful manner, and should be 
subject to no violence, and no ill-treatment 
of any kind, other than that necessary for 
conveying them to the places of security 
previously designated. They suffered un- 
doubtedly a greater or less degree of dis- 
tress and terror, — but finding that they were 
treated, after their seizure, with respectful 
consideration, and that they were left unmo- 
lested by their captors, they gradually re- 
covered their composure during the night, 
and in the morning" were quite self-possessed 
and calm. Their fathers and brothers in the 
mean time had gone home to their respective 
cities, taking with them the women and 
children that they had saved, and burning 
with indignation and rage against the perpe- 
trators of such an act of treachery as had 
been practised upon them. They were of 
course in a state of great uncertainty and 
suspense in respect to the fate which awaited 
the captives, and were soon eagerly engaged 
in forming and discussing all possible plans 
for rescuing and recovering them. Thus the 
night was passed in agitation and excite- 
ment, both within and without the city, — 
the excitement of terror and distress, great 
perhaps, though subsiding, on the part of the 
captives, and of resentment and rage which 



wives. 209 

grew deeper and more extended every hour, 
on the part of their countrymen. 

When the morning came, Romulus ordered 
the captive maidens to be all brought to- 
gether before him in order that he might 
make as it were an apology to them for the 
violence to which they had been subjected, 
and explain to them the circumstances which 
had impelled the Romans to resort to it. 

" You ought not," said he, u to look upon 
it as an indignity that you have been thus 
seized, for the object of the Romans in seiz- 
ing you was not to dishonor you, or to do 
you any injury, but only to secure you for 
their wives in honorable marriage ; and far 
from being displeased with the extraordi- 
nariness of the measures which they have 
adopted to secure you, you ought to take 
pride in them, as evincing the ardor and 
strength of the affection with which you 
have inspired your lovers. I will assure 
you that when you have become their wives 
you shall be treated with all the respect and 
tenderness that you have been accustomed 
to experience under your fathers' roofs. 
The brief coercion which we have emplo} r ed 
for the purpose of securing you in the first 
instance, — a coercion which we were com- 
pelled to resort to by the necessity of the 
case, — is the only rudeness to which you will 
ever be exposed. Forgive us then "for this 
one liberty which we have taken, and con- 
sider that the fault, whatever fault in it 
there may be, is not ours, but that of your 



210 ROMULUS. 

fathers and brothers who rejected our offers 
for voluntary and peaceful alliances, and 
thus compelled us to resort to this stratagem 
or else to lose you altogether. Your destiny 
if you unite with us will be great and glori- 
ous. We have not taken you captive to 
make you prisoners or slaves, or to degrade 
you in any way from your former position ; 
but to exalt you to positions of high con- 
sideration in a new and rising colony ; — a 
colony which is surely destined to become 
great and powerful, and of which we mean 
you to be the chief glory and charm." 

The young and handsome Eomans stood 
by while Romulus made this speech, their 
countenances animated with excitement and 
pleasure. The maidens themselves seemed 
much inclined to yield to their fate. Their 
resentment gradually subsided . It has been, 
in fact, in all ages, characteristic of women 
to be easily led to excuse and forgive any 
wrong on the part of another which is 
prompted by love for herself : and these in- 
jured maidens seemed gradually to come to 
the conclusion, that considering all the cir- 
cumstances of the case their abductors were 
not so much in fault after all. In a short 
time an excellent understanding was estab- 
lished, and they were all married. There 
were, it is said, about five or six hundred 
of them, and it proved that most of them 
were from the nation of the Sabines, a nation 
which inhabited a territory north of the 
colony of the Romans. The capital of the 



WIVES. 211 

Sabines was a city called Cures. Cures was 
about twenty miles from Rome.* 

The Sabines, in deliberating on the course 
which they should pursue in the emergency, 
found themselves in a situation of great per- 
plexity. In the first place the impulse which 
urged them to immediate acts of retaliation 
and hostility w^as restrained by the fact that 
so many of their beloved daughters were 
wholly in the power of their enemies, and 
they could not tell what cruel fate might 
await the captives if they w^ere themselves 
to resort to any measures that would ex- 
asperate or provoke the captors. Then 
again their own territory was very much 
exposed, and they were by no means certain, 
in case a war should be commenced between 
them and the Eomans, how it would end. 
Their own population was much divided, 
being scattered over the territory, or settled 
in various cities and towns which were but 
slightly fortified, and consequently were 
much exposed to assault in case the Romans 
were to make an incursion into their country. 
In view of all these considerations the 
Sabines concluded that it would be best for 
them on the whole, to try the influence of 
gentle measures, before* resorting to open 
war. 

They therefore sent an embassy to Rom- 
ulus, to remonstrate in strong terms against 
the wrong which the Romans had done 
them by their treacherous violence, and to 
* See map of Latium, page 103. 



212 ROMULUS. 

demand that the young women should be 
restored. " If you will restore them to us 
now," said they, " we will overlook the 
affront which you have put upon us, and 
make peace with you ; and we will enter 
into an alliance with you so that hereafter 
your people and ours may be at liberty to 
intermarry in a fair and honorable way, 
but we cannot submit to have our daughters 
taken away from us by treachery and force." 

Eeasonable as this proposition seems, 
Eomulus did not think it best to accede to 
it. It was, in fact, too late, for such deeds 
once done can hardly be undone. Romulus 
replied, that the women, being now the 
wives of the Romans, could not be surren- 
dered. The violence, he said, of which the 
Sabines complained was unavoidable. No 
other possible way had been open to them 
for gaining the end. He was willing, he 
added, to enter into a treaty of peace and 
alliance with the Sabines, but they must 
acknowledge, as a preliminary to such a 
treaty, the validity of the marriages, which, 
as they had already been consummated, 
could not now be annulled. 

The Sabines, on their part, could not ac- 
cede to these proposals. Being, however, 
still reluctant to commence hostilities, they 
continued the negotiations — though while 
engaged in them they seemed to anticipate 
an unfavorable issue, for they were occupied 
all the time in organizing troops, strength- 
ening the defenses of their villages and 



WIVES. 



213 



towns, and making other vigorous prepara- 
tions for war. 

The Komans, in the mean time, seemed to 
find the young wives which they had pro- 
cured by these transactions a great acquisi- 
tion to their colony. It proved, too, that 
they not only prized the acquisition, but 




Spearman and Bowman. 

they exulted so much in the ingenuity and 
success of the stratagem by which their 
object had been effected, that a sort of sym- 
bolical violence in taking the bride became 
afterward a part of the marriage ceremony 
in all subsequent weddings. For always, 
in future years, when the new-married wife 
was brought home to her husband's house, 
it was the custom for him to take her up in 
his arms at the door, and carry her over the 
threshold as if by force, thus commemorat- 
ing by this ceremony the coercion which 
had signalized the original marriages of his 
ancestors, the founders of Eome. 




CHAPTER XII. 



THE SABINE WAR. 



"While the negotiations with the Sabines 
were still pending, Romulus became involved 
in another difficulty, which for a time as- 
sumed a very threatening aspect. This dif- 
ficulty was a war which broke out, some- 
what suddenly, in consequence of the inva- 
sion of the Roman territories by a neighbor- 
ing chieftain named Acron. Acron was the 
sovereign of a small state, whose capital 
was a town called Caenma.* This Caenina 
is supposed to have been only four or five 
miles distant from Romulus's city, — a fact 
which shows very clearly on how small a 
scale the deeds and exploits connected with 
the first foundation of the great empire, 
which afterward became so extended and 
so renowned, were originally performed, 
and how intrinsically insignificant they 
were, in themselves, though momentous in 
the extreme in respect to the consequences 
that flowed from them. 

Acron was a bold, energetic, and deter- 
mined man, who had already acquired great 
fame by his warlike exploits, and who had 

* See map of Latium, page 103. 
214 



THE SABINE WAR. 215 

long been watching the progress of the new 
colony with an evil eye. He thought that 
if it were allowed to take root, and to grow, 
it might, at some future day, become a for- 
midable enemy, both to him, and also to the 
other states in that part of Italy. He had 
been very desirous, therefore, of finding some 

Eretext for attacking the new city, and when 
e heard of the seizure of the Sabine women, 
he thought that the time had arrived. He, 
therefore, urged the Sabines to make war at 
once upon the Romans, and promised, if 
they would do so, to assist them with all the 
forces that he could command. The Sabines, 
however, were so unwilling to proceed to ex- 
tremities, and spent so much time in negotia- 
tions and embassies, that Acron's patience 
was at length wholly exhausted by the de- 
lays, and he resolved to undertake the exter- 
mination of the new colony himself alone. 

So he gathered together a rude and half- 
organized army, and advanced toward Rome. 
Romulus, who had been informed of his 
plans and preparations, went out to meet him. 
The two armies came in view of each other 
on an open plain, not far from the city. 
Romulus advanced at the head of his troops, 
while Acron appeared likewise in the fore- 
front of the invaders. After uttering in 
the hearing of each other, and of the assem- 
bled armies, various exclamations of chal- 
lenge and defiance, it was at length agreed 
that the question at issue should be decided 
by single combat, the two commanders 



216 ROMULUS. 

themselves to be the champions. Romulus 
and Acron accordingly advanced into the 
middle of the field, while their armies drew 
up around them, forming a sort of ring with- 
in which the combatants were to engage. 

The interest which would be naturally felt 
by such an encounter, was increased very 
much by the strong contrast that was ob- 
served in the appearance of the warriors. 
Romulus was very young, and though tall 
and athletic in form, his countenance exhib- 
ited still the expression of softness and deli- 
cacy characteristic of youth. Acron, on the 
other hand, was a war-worn veteran, rugged, 
hardy, and stern ; and the throngs of martial 
spectators that surrounded the field, when 
they saw the combatants as they came for- 
ward to engage, anticipated a very unequal 
contest. Romulus was nevertheless victori- 
ous. As he went into the battle, he made a 
vow to Jupiter, that if he conquered his foe, 
he would ascribe to the god all the glory of 
the victory, and he would set up the arms 
and spoils of Acron at Rome, as a trophy 
sacred to Jupiter, in honor of the divine 
aid through which the conquest should be 
achieved. It was in consequence of this 
vow, as the old historians say, that Romulus 
prevailed in the combat. At all events, he 
did prevail. Acron was slain, and while 
Romulus was stripping the fallen body of 
its armor on the field, his men were pursu- 
ing the army of Acron, for the soldiers fled 
in dismay toward their city, as soon as 



THE SABINE WAR. 217 

they saw that the single combat had gone 
against their king. 

Caonina was not in a condition to make any 
defense, and it was readily taken. When 
the city was thus in the power of Romulus, 
he called the inhabitants together, and said 
to them, that he cherished no hostile or re- 
sentful feelings toward them. On the con- 
trary, he wished to have them his allies and 
friends, and he promised them, that if they 
would abandon Caenina, and go with him to 
Eome, they should all be received as 
brothers, and be at once incorporated into 
the Roman state, and admitted to all the 
privileges of citizens. The people of Cae- 
nina, when the first feelings of terror and 
distress which their falling into the power 
of their enemies naturally awakened, had 
been in some measure allayed, readily ac- 
quiesced in this arrangement, and were all 
transferred to Rome. Their coming made a 
great addition not only to the population 
and strength of the city, but vastly increased 
the celebrity and fame of Romulus in the 
estimation of the surrounding nations. 

This victory over Acron, and the annexa- 
tion of his dominions to the Roman common- 
wealth, are considered of great historical 
importance, as the original type and exem- 
plar of the whole subsequent foreign policy 
of the Roman state ; — a policy marked by 
courage and energy in martial action on the 
field, and by generosity in dealing with the 
conquered ; and which was so successful in 



218 ROMULUS. 

its results, that it was the means of extend- 
ing the Roman power from kingdom to 
kingdom, and from continent to continent, 
until the vast organization almost encircled 
the world. 

Romulus faithfully fulfilled the vow which 
he had made to Jupiter. On the return of 
the army to Rome, the soldiers, by his direc- 
tions, cut down a small oak-tree, and trim- 
ming the branches at the top, and shortening 
them as much as was necessary for the pur- 
pose, they hung the weapons and armor of 
Acron upon it, and marched with it thus, 
in triumph into the city. Romulus walked 
in the midst of the procession, a crown of 
laurel upon his head, and his long hair hang- 
ing down upon his shoulders. Thus the 
victors entered the city, greeted all the way 
by the shouts and acclamations of the people, 
who had assembled, — men, women, and chil- 
dren, — at the gates and upon the tops of the 
houses. When the long procession had thus 
passed in, tables for the soldiers were spread 
in the streets and public squares, and the 
whole day was spent in festivity and rejoicing. 
This was the first Roman triumph, — the 
original model and example of those magnifi- 
cent and imposing spectacles which in sub- 
sequent ages became the wonder of the 
world. 

The spoils which had been brought in 
upon the oak were solemnly set up, on one 
of the hills within the city, as a trophy to 
Jupiter. A small temple was erected ex- 



THE SABINE WAR. 219 

pressly to receive them. This temple was 
very small, being but five feet wide and ten 
feet long. 

A short time after these transactions two 
other cities were incorporated into the Roman 
state. The name of these cities were Crustu- 
menium and Antemnae. Some women from 
these cities had been seized at Rome when 
the Sabine women were taken, and the inhab- 
itants had been ever since that period medi- 
tating plans of revenge. They were not 
strong enough to wage open war against 
Romulus, but they began at last to make 
hostile incursions into the Roman territories 
by means of such small bands of armed men 
as they had the means of raising. Romulus 
immediately organized bodies of troops suf- 
ficient for the purpose, and then suddenly, 
and, as it would seem, without giving the 
kings of these cities any previous warning, 
he appeared before the walls and captured 
the cities before the inhabitants had time to 
recover from their consternation. 

He then sent to all the women in Rome 
who had formerly belonged to these cities, 
summoning them to appear before him at his 
public place of audience in the city, and in 
the presence of the Roman Senate. The 
women were exceeding terrified at receiving 
this summons. They supposed that death 
or some other terrible punishment, was to 
be inflicted upon them in retribution for the 
offenses committed by their countrymen, 
and they came into the senate-house, hiding 

1 O— Romulus 



220 ROMULUS, 

their faces in their robes, and crying out with 
grief and terror. Romulus bid them # calm 
their fears, assuring them that he intended 
them no injury. "Your countrymen," said 
he, " preferred war to the peaceful alterna- 
tive of friendship and alliance which we of- 
fered them ; and the fortune of war to which 
they thus chose to appeal, has decided against 
them. They have now fallen into our hands, 
and are wholly at our mercy. ~W T e do not, 
however, mean to do them any harm. "We 
spare and forgive them for your sakes. "We 
intend to invite them to come and live with 
us and with you at Rome, so that you can 
once more experience the happiness of being 
joined to jouv fathers and brothers as well 
as your husbands. "We shall not destroy or 
even injure their cities ; but shall send some 
of our own citizens to people them, so that 
they may become fully incorporated into the 
Roman commonwealth. Thus your fathers 
and brothers, and all your countrymen, re- 
ceive the boon of life, liberty, and happiness 
through you ; and all that we ask of you in 
return, is that j T ou will continue your con- 
jugal affection and fidelity to your Roman 
husbands, and seek to promote the harmony 
and happiness of the city by every means. in 
your power." 

Of course such transactions as these at- 
tracted great attention throughout the coun- 
try, and both the valor with which Romulus 
encountered his enemies while they resisted 
and opposed him, and the generosity with 



THE SABINE WAR. 221 

which he admitted them to an honorable 
alliance with him when they were reduced to 
submission, were universally applauded. In 
fact, there began to be formed a strong public 
sentiment in favor of the new colony, and 
the influx to it of individual adventurers, from 
all parts of the country, rapidly increased. 
In one instance a famous chieftain named 
Caelius, a general of the Etrurians w T ho lived 
north of the Tiber, brought over the whole 
army under his command in a body, to join 
the new colony, New and special arrange- 
ments w r ere necessary to be made at Rome for 
receiving so sudden and so large an accession 
to the numbers of the people, and accord- 
ingly a new eminence, one which had been 
hitherto without the city, was now inclosed, 
and brought w r ithin the poemerium. This 
hill received the name of Caelius, from the 
general whose army occupied it. The city 
was extended too at the same time on the 
other side toward the Tiber. The walls were 
continued down to the very bank of the river, 
and thence carried along the banks so as to 
present a continued defense on that side, 
except at one place where there was a great 
gate leading to the water. 

During all this time, however, the Sabines 
still cherished the spirit of resentment and 
hostility, and instead of being conciliated by 
the forbearance and generosity of the Eo- 
mans, were only excited to greater jealousy 
and ill-will at witnessing the proofs of their 
increasing influence and power. They em- 



222 homulus. 

ployed themselves in maturing their plans 
for a grand onset against the new colony, 
and with the intention to make the blow 
which they were about to strike effectual 
and final, they took time to arrange their 
preparations on the most extensive scale, 
and to mature them in the most deliber- 
ate and thorough manner. They enlisted 
troops ; they collected stores of provisions 
and munitions of war, they formed alliances 
with such states lying beyond them as they 
could draw into their quarrel; and finally, 
when all things were ready, they assembled 
their forces upon the frontier, and prepared 
for the onset. The name of the general 
who was placed in command of this mighty 
host was Titus Tatius. 

In the mean time, Romulus and the people 
of the city were equally busy in making 
preparations for defense. They procured 
and laid up in magazines, great stores of 
provisions for the use of the city. They 
strengthened and extended the walls, and 
built new ramparts and towers wherever 
they were needed. Numitor rendered very 
essential aid to his grandson in these prep- 
arations. He sent supplies of weapons to 
him for the use of the men, and furnished 
various military engines, such as were used 
in those times in the attack and defense of 
besieged cities. In fact, the preparations on 
both sides were of the most extensive char- 
acter, and seemed to portend a very resolute 
and determined contest. 



THE SABINE WAR. 223 

When all things were thus ready, the 
Sabines, before actually striking the blow 
for which they had been so long and so 
deliberately preparing, concluded to send 
one more final embassy to Romulus, to 
demand the surrender of the women. This 
was of course only a matter of form, as they 
must have known well from what had 
already passed that Romulus would not now 
yield to such a proposal. He did not yield. 
He sent back word in answer to their de- 
mand, that the Sabine women were all well 
settled in Rome, and were contented and 
happy there with their husbands and friends, 
and that he could not think now of disturb- 
ing them. This answer having been re- 
ceived, the Sabines prepared for the onset. 

There was a certain tract of country sur- 
rounding Rome which belonged to the 
people of the city, and was cultivated by 
them. This land was used partly for tillage 
and partly for the pasturage of cattle, but 
principally for the latter, as the rearing of 
flocks and herds was, for various reasons, a 
more advantageous mode of procuring food 
for man in those ancient days than the cul- 
ture of the ground. The rural population, 
therefore, of the Roman territory consisted 
chiefly of herdsmen ; and when the approach- 
ing danger from the Sabines became immi- 
nent, Romulus called all these herdsmen in, 
and required the flocks of sheep and the 
herds of cattle to be driven to the rear of 
the city, and shut up in an inciosure there, 



224 ROMULUS. 

where they could be more easily defended. 
Thus the Sabine army found, when they 
were ready to cross the frontier, that the 
Eoman territory, on that side, was deserted 
and solitary ; and that there was nothing to 
oppose them in advancing across it almost 
to the very gates of Rome. 

They advanced accordingly, and when 
they came near to the city they found that 
Romulus had taken possession of two hills 
without the walls, where he had entrenched 
himself in great force. These two hills 
were named the Esquilineand Quirinal hills. 
The city itself included two other hills, 
namely, the Palatine and the Capitoline. 
The Capitoline hill was the one on which the 
asylum had formerly been built, and it was 
now the citadel. Th e citadel was surrounded 
on all parts with ramparts and towers which 
overlooked and commanded all the neighbor- 
ing country. The command of this fortress 
was given to Tarpeius, a noble Eoman. He 
had a daughter named Tarpeia, whose name 
afterward became greatly celebrated in 
history, on account of the part which she 
took in the events of this siege, as will pres- 
ently appear. 

At the foot of the Capitoline hill, and on 
the western side of it, that is, the side away 
from the city, there was a spacious plain 
which was afterward included within the 
limits of the city, and used as a parade- 
ground, under the name of Campus Martius, 
which words mean the " War Field." This 



THE SABINE WAR, 225 

field was now, however, an open plain, and 
the Sabine army advancing to it, encamped 
upon it. The Sabine forces were much more 
numerous than those of the Romans, but the 
latter were so well guarded and protected 
by their walls and fortifications, that Titus 
Tatius saw no feasible way of attacking 
them with any prospect of success. At last, 
one day as some of his officers were walking 
around the Capitoline hill, looking at the 
walls of the citadel, Tarpeia came to one of 
the gates, which was in a retired and solitary 
position, and entered into a parley with the 
men. The story of what followed is vari- 
ously related by different historians, and it 
is now difficult to ascertain the actual truth 
respecting it. The account generally re- 
ceived is this : — 

Tarpeia had observed the soldiers from 
the walls, and her attention had been at- 
tracted by the bracelets and rings which 
they wore ; and she finally made an agree- 
ment with the Sabines that she would open 
the postern gate in the night, and let them 
in, if they would give her what they wore 
upon their arms, meaning the ornaments 
which had attracted her attention. The 
Sabines bound themselves to do this and then 
went away. Titius Tatius, accordingly, 
when informed of this arrangement, detailed 
a strong detachment of troops, and gave 
them orders to repair at night in a very 
silent and secret manner to the gate which 
had been designated as the place w r here they 



226 BOMULUS. 

were to be let in. It is asserted, however, 
by some writers, that this apparent treachery 
on the part of Tarpeia was only a deep-laid 
stratagem on her part to draw the Sabines 
into a snare ; and that she sent word to 
Romulus, informing him of the agreement 
which she had made, in order that he might 
secretly despatch a strong force to take their 
position at the gate, and intercept and cap- 
ture the Sabine party as soon as they should 
come in. But if this was Tarpeia's design, 
it totally failed. The Sabines, when they 
came at midnight to the postern gate which 
Tarpeia opened for them, came in sufficient 
force to bear down all opposition ; and in 
fulfilment of their promise to give Tarpeia 
what they wore upon their arms they threw 
their heavy bucklers upon her until she was 
crushed down beneath the weight of them 
and killed. 

A steep rock which forms that side of the 
Capitoline hill is called the Tarpeian rock, in 
memory of this maiden, to the present day. 

In this way the Sabines gained possession 
of the citadel, though Romulus still held the 
main city. The Romans were of course ex- 
tremely disconcerted at the loss of the citadel, 
and Romulus, finding that the danger was 
now extremely imminent, resolved no longer 
to stand on the defensive, but to come out 
upon the plain and offer the Sabines battle. 
He accordingly brought his forces out of the 
city and took up a strong position with them, 
between the Capitoline and Palatine hills, 



THE SABINE WAR. 



227 



with his front toward the Campus Martius, 
where the main body of the Sabines were 
posted. Thus the armies were confronted 
against each other on the plain, the Eomans 
holding the city and the Palatine hill as a 
stronghold to retreat to in case of necessity, 




Promising the Bracelets. 



while the Sabines in the same manner could 
seek refuge on the Capitoline hill aud in the 
citadel. 

Things being in this state a series of des- 
perate but partial contests ensued, which 
were continued for several days, when at 
length a general battle came on. During 



228 ROMULUS. 

all this time the walls of the city and of the 
citadel were lined with spectators who had 
ascended to witness the combats ; for from 
these walls and from the declivities of the 
hills, the whole plain could be looked down 
upon as if it were a map. The battle con- 
tinued all day. At night both parties were 
exhausted, and the field was covered with 
the dead and dying, but neither side had 
gained the victory. The next day by com- 
mon consent they suspended the combat in 
order to take care of the wounded, and to 
bury the bodies of the dead. 

After the interval of a day, w^hich was 
spent, on both sides, in removing the horrid 
relics of the previous combats, and in gather- 
ing fresh strength and fresh desperation and 
rage for the conflicts yet to come, the struggle 
was renewed. The soldiers fought now, on 
this renewal of the battle, with more dread- 
ful and deadly ferocity than ever. Various 
incidents occurred during the day to give 
one party or the other a local or temporary 
advantage, but neither side wholly prevailed. 
At one time Romulus himself was exposed 
to the most imminent personal danger, and 
for a time it was thought that he was actu- 
ally killed. The Romans had gained some 
great advantage over a party of the Sabines, 
and the latter were rushing in a headlong 
flight, to the citadel, the Romans pursuing 
them and hoping to follow them in, in the 
confusion, and thus regain possession of the 
fortress. To prevent this the Sabines within 



THE SABINE WAR, 229 

the citadel and on the rocks above threw 
stones down upon the Romans. One of these 
stones struck Romulus on the head, and he 
fell down stunned and senseless under the 
blow. His men were extremely terrified at 
this disaster, and abandoning the pursuit of 
their enemies they took up the body of Rom- 
ulus and carried it into the city. It was 
found, however, that he was not seriously 
injured. He soon recovered from the effects 
of the blow and returned into the battle. 

Another incident which occurred in the 
course of these battles has been commemo- 
rated in history, by having been the means 
of giving a name to a small lake or pool 
which was afterward brought w r ithin the 
limits of the city. A Sabine general named 
Curtius happened at one time to encounter 
Romulus in a certain part of the field, and a 
loug and desperate combat ensued between 
the two champions. Other soldiers gradually 
came up and mingled in the fray, until at 
length Curtius, finding himself wounded and 
bleeding, and surrounded by enemies, fled 
for his life. Romulus pursued him for a 
short distance, but Curtius at length came 
suddenly upon a small swampy pool, which 
was formed of water that had been left by 
the inundations of the river in some old de- 
serted channel, and which was now covered 
and almost concealed by some sort of mossy 
and floating vegetation. Curtius running, 
headlong, and paying little heed to his steps 
fell into this hole, and sank in the water. 



230 ROMULUS. 

Romulus supposed of course that he would 
be drowned there, and so turned away and 
went to find some other enemy. Curtius, 
however, succeeded in crawling out of the 
pond into which he had fallen ; and in com- 
memoration of the incident the pond was 
named Lake Curtius, which name it retained 
for centuries afterward, when, not only had 
all the water disappeared, but the place itself 
had been filled up, and had been covered 
with streets and houses. 

The combats between the Romans and the 
Sabines were continued for several days, 
during all which time the Sabine women, on 
whose account it was that this dreadful quar- 
rel had arisen, were suffering the greatest 
anxiety and distress. They loved their fa- 
thers and brothers, but then they loved their 
husbands too ; and they were overwhelmed 
with anguish at the thought that day after 
day those who were equally dear to them 
were engaged in fighting and destroying one 
another, and that they could do nothing to 
arrest so unnatural a hostility. 

At length, however, after suffering extreme 
distress for many days, a crisis arrived when 
they found that they could interpose. Both 
parties had become somewhat weary of the 
contest. Neither could prevail over the 
other, and yet neither was willing to yield. 
The Sabines could not bring themselves to 
submit to so humiliating an alternative as to 
withdraw from Rome and leave their daugh- 
ters and sisters in the captors' hands, after 



THE SABINE WAR. 231 

all the grand preparations which they had 
made for retaking them. And on the other 
hand the Romans could not take those, who, 
whatever had been their previous history, 
were now living happily as wives and moth- 
ers, each in her own house in the city, and 
give them up to an army of invaders, demand- 
ing them with threats and violence, without 
deep dishonor. Thus, though there was a 
pause in the conflict, and both parties were 
weary of it, neither was willing to yield, 
and both were preparing to return to the 
struggle with new determination and vigor. 

The Sabine women thought that they 
might now interpose. A lady named Her- 
silia, who is often mentioned as one of the 
most prominent among the number, proposed 
this measure and made the arrangements 
for carrying it into effect. She assembled 
her country-women and explained to them 
her plan, which was that they should go in 
a body to the Roman Senate, and ask per- 
mission to intercede between the contending 
nations, and plead for peace. 

The company of women, taking their 
children w T ith them, all of whom were yet 
very young, w^ent accordingly in a body to 
the senate-chamber, and asked to be ad- 
mitted. The doors were opened to them, 
and they went in. They all appeared to be 
in great distress and agitation. The grief 
and anxiety which they had suffered during 
the progress of the war still continued, and 
they begged the Senate to let them go out 



232 ROMULUS. 

to the camp of the Sabines, and endeavor to 
persuade them to make peace. The Senate 
were disposed to consent. The women 
wished to take their children with them, but 
some of the Romans imagined that there 
might, perhaps, be danger, that under pre- 
tense of interceding for peace, they were 
really intending to make their escape from 
Rome altogether. So it was insisted that 
they should leave their children behind them 
as hostages for their return, excepting that 
such as had two children were allowed to 
take one, which plan it was thought would 
aid them in moving the compassion of their 
Sabine relatives. 

The women, accordingly, left the senate- 
chamber, and with their children in their 
arms, their hair disheveled, their robes 
disordered, and their countenances wan 
with grief, went in mournful procession 
out through the gate of the city. They 
passed across the plain and advanced toward 
the citadel. They were admitted, and after 
some delay, were ushered into the council 
of the Sabines. Here their tears and ex- 
clamations of grief broke forth anew. 
When silence was in some measure restored, 
Hersilia addressed the Sabine chieftains, 
saying, that she and her companions had 
come to beg their countrymen to put an end 
to the war. " We know," said she, " that 
you are waging it on our account, and we 
see in all that you have done proofs of } 7 our 
love for us. In fact, it was our supposed 



THE SABINE WAR. 233 

interests which led you to commence it, but 
now our real interests require that it should 
be ended. It is true that when we were 
first seized by the Romans we felt greatly 
wronged, but having submitted to our fate, 
we have now become settled in our new 
homes, and are contented and happy in 
them. We love our husbands and love our 
children ; and Ave are treated with the ut- 
most kindness and respect by all. Do not 
then, under a mistaken kindness for us, at- 
tempt to tear us away again, or continue 
this dreadful war, which, though ostensibly 
on our account, and for our benefit, is really 
making us inexpressibly miserable." 

This intercession produced the effect which 
might have been expected from it. The 
Sabines and Eomans immediately entered 
upon negotiations for peace, and peace is 
easily made where both parties are honestly 
desirous of making it. In fact, a great re- 
action took place, so that from the reckless 
and desperate hostility which the two na- 
tions had felt for each other, there succeeded 
so friendly a sentiment, that in the end a 
treaty of union was made between the two 
nations. It was agreed that the two nations 
should be merged into one. The Sabine 
territory was to be annexed to that of Rome, 
and Titus Tatius, with the principal Sabine 
chieftains, were to remove to Rome, which 
was thenceforth to be the capital of the new 
kingdom. In a word, never was a recon- 
ciliation between two belligerent nations so 
sudden and so complete. 




CHAPTER XIII. 

THE CONCLUSION. 

After the termination of the Sabine war, 
Romulus continued to reign many years, 
and his reign, although no very exact and 
systematic history of it was recorded at the 
time, seems to have presented the usual 
variety of incidents and vicissitudes ; and 
yet, notwithstanding occasional and partial 
reverses, the city, and the kingdom connected 
with it, made rapid progress in wealth and 
population. 

For four or five years after the union of 
the Sabines with the Romans, Titus Tatius 
was in some way or other associated with 
Romulus in the government of the united 
kingdom. Romulus, during all this time, 
had his house and his court on the Palatine 
hill, where the city had been originally 
built, and where most of the Romans lived. 
The headquarters of the Sabine chieftain 
were, on the other hand, upon the Capito- 
line hill, which was the place on which the 
citadel was situated that his troops had 
taken possession of in the course of the war, 
and which it seems they continued to occupy 
after the peace. The space between tne 

234 



THE CONCLUSION. 235 

two hills was set apart as a market-place, or 
forum, as it was called in their language, — 
that place being designated for the purpose 
on account of its central and convenient 
situation. When afterward that portion of 
the city became filled as it did with mag- 
nificent streets and imposing architectural 
edifices, the space which Romulus had set 
apart for a market remained an open public 
square, and as it was the scene in which 
transpired some of the most remarkable 
events connected with Roman historv, it 
became renowned throughout the world 
under the name of the Roman Forum. 

In consequence of the union of the Ro- 
mans and the Sabines, and of the rapid 
growth of the city in population and power 
which followed, the Roman state began soon 
to rise to so high a position in relation to 
the surrounding cities and kingdoms, as 
soon to take precedence of them altogether. 
This was owing, however, in part undoubt- 
edly, to the character of the men who 
governed at Rome. The measures which 
they adopted in founding the city, and in 
sustaining it through the first years of its 
existence, as described in the foregoing 
chapters, were all of a very extraordinary 
character, and evinced very extraordinary 
qualities in the men who devised them. 
These measures were bold, comprehensive 
and sagacious, and they were carried out 
with a certain combination of courage and 
magnanimity which always gives to those 

J 7 — Romulug 



236 ROMULUS. 

who possess it, and who are in a position to 
exercise it on a commanding scale, great 
ascendency over the minds of men. They 
who possess these qualities generally feel 
their power, and are usually not slow to as- 
sert it. A singular and striking instance of 
this occurred not many years after the 
peace with the Sabines. There was a city 
at some distance from Rome called Cameria, 
whose inhabitants were a lawless horde, and 
occasionally parties of them made incur- 
sions, as was said, into the surrounding coun- 
tries, for plunder. The Roman Senate sent 
word to the government of the city that 
such accusations were made against them, 
and very coolly cited them to appear at 
Rome for trial. The Camerians of course 
refused to come. The Senate then declared 
war against them, and sent an army to take 
possession of the city, proceeding to act in 
the case precisely as if the Roman govern- 
ment constituted a judicial tribunal, having 
authority to exercise jurisdiction, and to en- 
force law and order, among all the nations 
around them. In fact, Rome continued to 
assert and to maintain this authority over a 
wider and wider circle every year, until in 
the course of some centuries after Romulus's 
day, she made herself the arbiter of the 
world. 

Titius Tatius shared the supreme power 
with Romulus at Rome for several years, 
and the two monarch s continued during this 
time to exercise their joint power in a much 




Carrying Off a Sabine Woman. {Seep. 206.) 



THE CONCLUSION. 237 

more harmonious manner than would have 
have been supposed possible. At length, 
however, causes of disagreement began to 
occur, and in the end open dissension took 

Elace, in the course of which Tatius came to 
is end in a very sudden and remarkable 
manner. A party of soldiers from Rome, 
it seems, had been committing some deed of 
violence at Lavinium, the ancient city which 
iEneas had built when he first arrived in 
Latium. The people of Lavinium com- 

f'lained to Romulus against these marauders. 
t happened, however, that the guilty men 
were chiefly Sabines, and in the discussions 
which took place at Rome afterward in re- 
lation to the affair, Tatius took their part, 
and endeavored to shield them, while Rom- 
ulus seemed disposed to give them up to the 
Lavinians for punishment. " They are rob- 
bers and murderers," said Romulus, " and 
we ought not to shield them from the pen- 
alty due to their crimes." " They are Roman 
citizens," said Tatius, " and we must not give 
them up to a foreign state." The controversy 
became warm ; parties were formed ; and at 
last the exasperation became so great that 
when the Lavinian envoys, who had come to 
Rome to demand the punishment of the 
robbers, were returning home, a gang of 
Tatius's men intercepted them on the way 
and killed them. 

This of course increased the excitement 
and the difficulty in a tenfold degree. Rom- 
ulus immediately sent to Lavinium to express 



238 ROMULUS. 

his deep regret at what had occurred, and 
his readiness to do everything in his power 
to expiate the offense which his countrymen 
had committed. He would arrest these 
murderers, he said, and send them to Lavin- 
ium, and he would come himself, with Tatius, 
to Lavinium, and there make an expiatory 
offering to the gods, in attestation of the 
abhorrence which they both felt for so atro- 
cious a crime as waylaying and murdering 
the ambassadors of a friendly city. Tatius 
was compelled to assent to these measures, 
though he yielded very reluctantly. He 
could not openly defend such a deed as the 
murder of the envoys ; and so he consented to 
accompany Romulus to Lavinium, to make 
the offering, but he secretly arranged a plan 
for rescuing the murderers from the Lavin- 
ians, after they had been given up. Accord- 
ingly, while he and Romulus were at Lavin- 
ium offering the sacrifices, news came that 
the murderers of the envoys, on their way 
from Rome to Lavinium, had been rescued 
and allowed to escape. This news so exaspe- 
rated the people of Lavinium against Tatius, 
for they considered him as unquestionably 
the secret author and contriver of the deed, 
that they rose upon him at the festival, and 
murdered him with the butcher knives and 
spits which had been used for slaughtering 
and roasting the animals. They then formed 
a grand procession and escorted Romulus 
out of the city in safety, with loud acclama- 
tions. 



THE CONCLUSION. 239 

The government of Lavinium, as soon as 
the excitement of the scene was over, fear- 
ing the resentment which they very naturally 
supposed Romulus would feel at the murder 
of his colleague, seized the ringleaders of the 
riot, and sent them bound to Rome, to place 
them at the disposal of the Roman govern- 
ment. Romulus sent them back unharmed, 
directing them to say to the Lavinian govern- 
ment, that he considered the death of Tatius, 
though inflicted in a mode lawless and un- 
justifiable, as nevertheless, in itself, only a 
just expiation for the murder of the La- 
vinian ambassador which Tatius had insti- 
gated or authorized. 

The Sabmes of Rome were for a time 
greatly exasperated at these occurrences, 
but Romulus succeeded in gradually quieting 
and calming them, and they finally acqui- 
esced in his decision. Romulus thus became 
once more the sole and undisputed master of 
Rome. 

After this the progress of the city in 
wealth and prosperity, from year to year, 
was steady and sure, interrupted, it is true, 
by occasional and temporary reverses, but 
with no real retrocession at any time. Causes 
of disagreement arose from time to time with 
neighboring states, and, in such cases Romu- 
lus always first sent a summons to the party 
implicated, whether king or people, citing 
them to appear and answer for their conduct 
before the Roman Senate. If they refused 
to come, he sent an armed force against them, 



240 KOMULUS. 

as if he were simply enforcing the jurisdic- 
tion of a tribunal of justice. The result 
usually was that the refractory state was 
compelled to summit, and its territories were 
added to those of the kingdom of Kome. 
Thus the boundaries of the new empire were 
widening and extending every year. 

Komulus paid great attention, in the mean 
time, to everything pertaining to the internal 
organization of the state, so as to bring 
every part of the national administration 
into the best possible condition. The muni- 
cipal police, the tribunals of justice, the social 
institutions and laws of the industrial classes, 
the discipline of the troops, the enlargement 
and increase of the fortifications of the city, 
and the supply of arms, and stores, and muni- 
tions of war, — and every other subject, in 
fact, connected with the welfare and pros- 
perity of the city, — occupied his thoughts in 
every interval of peace and tranquillity. In 
consequence of the exertions which he made, 
and the measures which he adopted, order 
and system prevailed more and more in every 
department, and the community became 
every year better organized, and more and 
more consolidated ; so that the capacity of 
the city to receive accessions to the popula- 
tion increased even faster than accessions 
were made. In a word, the solid foundations 
were laid of that vast superstructure, which, 
in subsequent ages, became the wonder of 
world. 

Notwithstanding, however, all this in- 



THE CONCLUSION. 241 

creasing, greatness and prosperity, Romulus 
was not without rivals and enemies, even 
among his own people at Rome. The lead- 
ing senators became, at last, envious and jeal- 
ous of his power. They said that he him- 
self grew imperious and domineering in spirit, 
as he grew older, and manifested a pride and 
haughtiness of demeanor which excited their 
ill-will. He assumed too much authority, 
they said, in the management of public affairs, 
as if he were an absolute and despotic sover- 
eign. He wore a purple robe on public oc- 
casions, as a badge of royalty. He organ- 
ized a body-guard of three hundred young 
troopers, who rode before him whenever he 
moved about the city ; and in all respects as- 
sumed such pomp and parade in his demean- 
or, and exercised such a degree of arbitrary 
power in his acts, as made him many enemies. 
The whole Senate became, at length, greatly 
disaffected. 

At last one day, on occasion of a great re- 
view which took place at a little distance from 
the city, there came up a sudden shower, at- 
tended with thunder and lightning, and the 
violence of the tempest was such as to compel 
the soldiers to retire precipitately from the 
ground in search of some place of shelter. 
Romulus was left with a number of senators 
who were at that time attending upon him, 
alone, on the shore of a little lake which was 
near the place that had been chosen for the 
parade. After a short time the senators 
themselves came away fram the ground, and 



242 ROMULUS. 

returned to the city ; but Romulus was not 
with them. The story which they told was 
that in the middle of the tempest, Romulus 
had been suddenly enveloped in a flame 
which seemed to come down in a bright flash 
of lightning from the clouds, and imme- 
diately afterward had been taken up in the 
flame to heaven. 

This strange story was but half believed 
even at first, by the people, and very soon 
rumors began to circulate in the city that 
Romulus had been murdered by the senators 
who were around him at the time of the 
shower, — they having seized the occasion 
afforded by the momentary absence of his 
guards, and by their solitary position. There 
were various surmises in respect to the dis- 
posal which the assassins had made of the 
body. The most obvious supposition was 
that it had been sunk in the lake. There 
was, however, a horrible report circulated 
that the senators had disposed of it by cut- 
ting it up into small pieces, and conveying it 
away, each taking a portion, under their 
robes, 

Of course these rumors produced great agi- 
tation and excitement throughout the city. 
The current of public sentiment set strongly 
against the senators. Still as nothing could 
be positively ascertained in respect to the 
transaction, the mystery seemed to grow 
more dark and dreadful every day, and the 
public mind was becoming more and more 
deeply agitated. At length, however, the 



THE CONCLUSION. 243 

mystery was suddenly explained by a rev- 
elation, which, whatever may be thought 
of it at the present day, was then entirely 
satisfactory to the whole community. 

One of the most prominent and distin- 
guished of the senators, named Proculus, one 
who it seems had not been present among 
the other senators in attendance upon Rom- 
ulus at the time when he disappeared, came 
forward one day before a grand assembly 
which had been convened for the purpose, 
and announced to them in the most solemn 
manner, that the spirit of Romulus had ap- 
peared to him in a visible form, and had as- 
sured him that the story which the other 
senators had told of the ascension of their 
chieftain to heaven in a flame of fire was 
really true. " I was journeying," said Pro- 
culus, " in a solitary place, when Romulus 
appeared to me. At first I was exceedingly 
terrified. The form of the vision was taller 
than that of a mortal man, and it was clothed 
in armor of the most resplendent brightness. 
As soon as I had in some measure recovered 
my composure I spoke to it. ' Why,' said 
1, ' have you left us so suddenly ? and espe- 
cially why did you leave us at such a time, 
and in such a way., as to bring suspicion and 
reproach on the Roman senators V 'I left 
you,' said he, ' because it pleased the gods 
to call me back again to heaven, whence I 
originally came. It was no longer necessary 
for me to remain on earth, for Rome is now 
established, and her future greatness and 



244 ROMULUS. 

glory are sure. Go back to Rome and com- 
municate this to the people. Tell them that 
if they continue industrious, virtuous and 
brave, the time will come when their city 
will be the mistress of the world ; and that 
I, no longer its king, am henceforth to be its 
tutelar divinity.' ' ' 

The people of Rome were overjoyed to 
hear this communication. Their doubts and 
suspicions were now all removed : the sena- 
tors at once recovered their good standing in 
the public regard, and, all was once more 
peace and harmony. Altars were immedi- 
ately erected to Romulus, and the whole pop- 
ulation of the city joined in making sacri- 
fices and in paying other divine honors to his 
memory. 

The declaration of Proculus that he had 
seen the spirit of Romulus, and his report of 
the conversation which the spirit had ad- 
dressed to him, constituted proof of the 
highest kind, according to the ideas which 
prevailed in those ancient days. In modern 
times, however, there is no faith in such a 
story, and the truth in respect to the end of 
Romulus can now never be known. 

After the death of Romulus the senators 
undertook to govern the State themselves, 
holding the supreme power one by one, in 
regular rotation. This plan was, however, 
not found to succeed, and after an interreg- 
num of about a year, the people elected an- 
other king. 



ALTBMUS' 



Young People's Library. 



Price, 50 Cents Each. 



ROBINSON CRUSOE : His Life and Strange Surprising 
Adventures. With 70 beautiful illustrations by Walter 
Paget. Arranged for young readers. 

"There exists no work, either of instruction or entertainment, 
which has been more generally read, and universally admired. " 
— Walter Scott. 

ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND. With 42 
illustrations by John Tenniel. 

' : This is Carroll's immortal story." — Athenceum. 
" The most delightful of children's stories. Elegant and deli- 
cious nonsense." — Saturday Review. 

THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS AND WHAT 
ALICE FOUND THERE. (A companion to Alice in 
Wonderland.) With 50 illustrations by John Tenniel. 

' Not a whit inferior to its predecessor in grand extravagance of 
imagination, and delicious allegorical nonsense." — Quarterly 
Review. 

BUNYAN'S PILGRIM'S PROGRESS. With 50 full-page 
and text illustrations. 

Pilgrim's Progress is the most popular story book in the 
world. With the exception of the Bible it has been translated into 
more languages than any other book ever printed. 

A CHILD'S STORY OF THE BIBLE. With 72 full-page 
illustrations. 

Tells in simple language and in a form fitted for the hands of 
the younger members of the Christian flock, the tale of God's 
dealings with his (Jhos-n People under the Old Dispensation, 
with its foreshadowings of the coming of that Messiah who was 
to make all mankind one fold under one Shepherd. 



ALTEMUS' YOUNG PEOPLE* S LIBRARY. 



A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. With 49 illustrations. 

God has implanted in the infant' s heart a desire to hear of Jesus, 
and children are early attracted and sweetly riveted by the won- 
derful Story of the Master from the Manger to the Throne. 

In this little book we have brought together from Scripture every 
incident, expression and description within the verge of their com- 
prehension, in the effort to weave them into a memorial garland of 
their Saviour. 

THE FABLES OF yESOP. Compiled from the best ac- 
cepted sources. With 62 illustrations. 

The fables of Jisop are among the very earliest compositions of 
this kind, and probably have never been surpassed for point and 
brevity, as well as for the practical good sense they display. In 
their grotesque grace, in their quaint humor, in their trust in the 
simpler virtues, in their insight into the cruder vices, in their inno- 
cence of the fact of sex, .Esop's Fables are as little children— and 
for that reason will ever find a home in the heaven of little chil- 
dren's souls. 

THE SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON, or the Adventures of 
a Shipwrecked Family on an Uninhabited Island. With 

50 illustrations. 

A remarkable tale of adventure that will interest the boys and 
girls. The father of the family tells the tale and the vicissitudes 
through which he and his wife and children pass, the wonderful 
discoveries they make, and the dangers they encounter. It is a 
standard work of adventure that has the favor of all who have 
read it. 

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS AND THE DISCOVERY 
OF AMERICA. With 70 illustrations. 

It is the duty of every American lad to know the story of Chris- 
topher Columbus. In this book is depicted the story of his life 
and struggles ; of his persistent solicitations at the courts of Eu- 
rope, and his contemptuous receptions by the learned Geographical 
Councils, until his final employment by Queen Isabella. Records 
the day-by-day journey ings while he was pursuing his aim and his 
perilous way over the shoreless ocean, until he " gave to Spain a 
New World." Shows his progress through Spain on the occasion 
of his first return, when he was received with rapturous demon- 
strations and more than regal homage. His displacement by the 



ALTEMUS' YOUNG PEOPLE'S LIBRARY. 3 

Odjeas, Ovandos and Bobadilas ; his last return in chains, and the 
story of his death in poverty and neglect. 

THE STORY OF EXPLORATION AND DISCOVERY 
IN AFRICA. With 80 illustrations. 

Records the adventures, privations, sufferings, trials, dangers 
and discoveries in developing the "Dark Continent," from the 
early days of Bruce and Mungo Park down to Livingstone and 
Stanley and the heroes of our own times. 

The reader becomes carried away by conflicting emotions of 
wonder and sympathy, and feels compelled tD pursue the story, 
w T hich he cannot lay down. Xo present can be more acceptable 
than such a volume as this, where courage, intrepidity, resource 
and devotion are so pleasantly mingled. It is very fully illustra- 
ted with pictures worthy of the book. 

GULLIVER'S TRAVELS INTO SOME REMOTE RE- 
GIONS OF THE WORLD. With 50 illustrations. 

In description, even of the most common-place things, his power 
is often perfectly marvellous. Macaulay says of Swift : " Under 
a plain garb and ungainly deportment were concealed some of the 
choicest gifts that ever have been bestowed on any of the children 
of men — rare powers of observation, brilliant art, grotesque inven- 
tion, humor of the mo-t austere flavor, yet exquisitely delicious, 
eloquence singularly pure, manly and perspicuous." 

MOTHER GOOSE'S RHYMES, JINGLES AND FAIRY 
TALES. With 300 illustrations. 

"In this edition an excellent choice has been made from the 
standard fiction cf the little ones. The abundant pictures are well- 
drawn and graceful, the effect frequently striking and always" deco- 
rative . " — Critic. 

" Only to see the book is to wish to give it to every child one 
knows. ' ' — Queen. 

LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED 
STATES. Compiled from authoritative sources. With 
portraits of the Presidents ; and also of the unsuccessful 
candidates for the office ; as well as the ablest of the 
Cabinet officers. 

This book should be in every home and school library. If tells, 
in an impartial way, the story of the political history of the United 
States, from the first Constitutional convention to the last Presi- 



ALTEMUS* YOUNG PEOPLE'S LIBRARY. 



dential nominations, it is just the book for intelligent boys, and it 
will help to make them intelligent and patriotic citizens. 

THE STORY OF ADVENTURE IN THE FROZEN 
SEA. With 70 illustrations. Compiled from authorized 
sources. 

We here have brought together the records of the attempts to 
reach the North Pole. Our object being to recall the stories of the 
early voyagers, and to narrate the recent efforts of gallant adven- 
turers of various nationalities to cross the " unknown and inacces- 
ible " threshold ; and to show how much can be accomplished by 
indomitable pluck and steady perseverance. Portraits and numer- 
ous illustrations help the narration. 

ILLUSTRATED NATURAL HISTORY. By the Rev. 
J. G. Wood. With 80 illustrations. 

Wood's Natural History needs no commendation. Its author 
has done more than any other writer to popularize the study. His 
work is known and admired overall the civilized world. The sales 
of his works in England and America have been enormous. The 
illustrations in this edition are entirely new, striking and life-like. 

A CHILD'S HISTORY OF ENGLAND. By Charles 
Dickens. With 50 illustrations. 

Dickens grew tired of listening to his children memorizing the 
old fashioned twaddle that went under the name of English his- 
tory. He thereupon wrote a book, in his own peculiarly happy 
style, primarily for the educational advantage of his own children, 
but was prevailed upon to publish the work, and make its use gen- 
eral. Its success was instantaneous and abiding. 

BLACK BEAUTY; The Autobiography of a Horse. By 
Anna Sewell. With 50 illustrations. 

This new illustrated edition is sure to command attention. 
Wherever children are, whether boys or girls, there this Autobiog- 
raphy should be. It inculcates habits of kindness to all members 
of the animal creation. The literary merit of the bo jk is excellent. 

THE ARABIAN NIGHTS' ENTERTAINMENTS. With 
50 illustrations. Contains the most favorably known of 
- the stories. 

The text is somewhat abridged and edited for the young. It 
forms an excellent introduction to those immortal tales which have 
helped so long to keep thj weary world young. 



A.LTEMUS* YOUNG PEOPLE'S LIBRARY. 



ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES. By Hans Christian An- 
dersen. With 77 illustrations. 

The spirit of high moral teaching, and the delicacy of sentiment, 
feeling and expression that pervade these tales make these won- 
derful creations not only attractive to the young, but equally accept- 
able to those of mature years, who are able to understand their 
real significance and appreciate the depth of their meaning. 

GRIMM'S FAIRY TALES. With 50 illustrations. 

These tales of the Brothers Grimm have carried their names into 
every household of the civilized world. 

The Tales are a wonderful collection, as interesting, from a lit- 
erary point of view, as they are delightful as stories. 

GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR; A History for Youth. By 
Nathaniel Hawthorne. With 60 illustrations. 

The story of America from the landing of the Puritans to the 
acknowledgment without reserve of the Independence of the 
United States, told with all the elegance, simplicity, grace, clear- 
ness and force for which Hawthorne is conspicuously noted. 

FLOWER FABLES. By Louisa May Alcott. With colored 
and plain illustrations. 

A series of very interesting fairy tales by the most charming of 
American story-tellers. 

AUNT MARTHA'S CORNER CUPBOARD. By Mary 
and Elizabeth Kirby. With 60 illustrations. 

Stories about Tea, Coffee, Sugar, Rice and Chinaware, and 
other accessories of the well-kept Cupboard. A book full of in- 
terest for all the girls and many of the boys. 

WATER-BABIES; A Fairy Tale for a Land-Baby. By 
Charles Kingsley. With 94 illustrations. 

" Come read me my riddle, each good little man ; 
If you cannot read it, no grown-up folk can." 

BATTLES OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. By 
Prescott Holmes. With 70 illustrations. 

A graphic and full history of the Rebellion of the American Col- 
onies from the yoke and oppression of England, with the causes 



ALTEMUS' YOUNG PEOPLE'S LIBRARY. 



that led thereto, and including an account of the second war with 
Great Britain, and the War with Mexico. 

BATTLES OF THE WAR FOR THE UNION. By 
Prescott Holmes. With 80 illustrations. 

A correct and impartial account of the greatest civil war in the 
annals of history. Both of these histories of American wars are 
a necessary part of the education of all intelligent American boys 
and girls. 

YOUNG PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH 
SPAIN. By Prescott Holmes. With 89 illustrations. 

This history of our war with Spain, in 1898, presents in a plain, 
easy style the splendid achievements of our army and navy, and 
the prominent figures that came into the public view during that 
period. Its glowing descriptions, wealth of anecdote, accuracy c{ 
statement and profusion of illustration make it a most desirable 
gift-book for young readers. 

HEROES OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. By 
Hartwell James. With 65 illustrations. 

The story of our navy is one of the most brilliant pages in the 
world's history. The sketches and exploits contained in this vol- 
ume cover our entire naval history from the days of the hone.-t, 
rough sailors cf Revolutionary times, with their cutlasses and 
boarding pikes, to the brief war of 1898, when our superbly ap- 
pointed warships destroyed Spain' s proud cruisers by the merci- 
less accuracy of their fire. 

MILITARY HEROES OF THE UNITED STATES. 
By Hartwell James. With 97 illustrations. 

In this volume the brave lives and heroic deeds c f our military 
heroes, from Paul Revere to Lawton, are told in the most captiva- 
ting manner. The material for the work has been gathered from 
the North and the Sou h alike. The volume presents all the im- 
portant facts in a manner enabling the young people of our united 
and prosperous land to easily become familiar with the command- 
ing figures that have arisen in our military history. 

UNCLE TOM'S CABIN; or Life Among the Lowly. By 
Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe. With 90 illustrations. 



ALTEMUS* YOUNG PEOPLE'S LIBRARY. 



The unfailing interest in the famous old story suggested the need 
of an edition specially prepared for young readers, and elaborately 
illustrated. This edition completely fills that want. 

SEA KINGS AND NAVAL HEROES. By Hartwell 
James. With 50 illustrations. 

The most famous sea battles of the world, with sketches of the 
lives, enterprises and achievements of men who have become fam- 
ous in naval history. They are stories of brave lives in times of 
trial and danger, charmingly told for young people. 

POOR BOYS' CHANCES. By John Habberton. With 
50 illustrations. 

There is a fascination about the writings of the author of 
" Helen's Babies," from which none can escape. In this charm- 
ing volume, Mr. Habberton tells the boys of America how they 
can attain the highest positions in the land, without the struggles 
and privations endured by poor boys who rose to eminence and 
fame in former times. 

ROMULUS, the Founder of Rome. By Jacob Abbott. 
With 49 illustrations. 

In a plain and connected narrative, the author tells the stories 
of the founder of Rome and his great ancestor, ^Eneas. These 
are of necessity somewhat legendary in character, but are pre- 
sented precisely as they have come down to us from ancient times. 
They are prefaced by an account of the life and inventions of Cad- 
mus, the " Father of the Alphabet,' ' as he is often called. 

CYRUS THE GREAT, the Founder of the Persian Empire. 
By Jacob Abbott. With 40 illustrations. 

For nineteen hundred years, the story of the founder of the an- 
cient Persian empire has been read by every generation of man- 
kind. The story of the life and actions of Cyrus, as told by the 
author, presents vivid pictures of the magnificence of a monarchy 
that rose about five hundred years before the Christian era, and 
rolled on in undisturbed magnitude and glory for many centuries. 

ADVENTURES IN TOYLAND. By Edith King Hull. 
With 70 illustrations by Alice B. Woodward. 

The sayings and doings of the dwellers in toyland, related by 
one of them to a dear little girl. It is a delightful book for chil- 
dren, and admirably illustrated. 



ALTEMUS* YOUNG PEOPLE'S LIBRARY. 



DARIUS THE GREAT, King of the Medes and Persians. 
By Jacob Abbott. With 34 illustrations. 

No great exploits marked the career of this monarch, who was 
at one time the absolute sovereign of nearly one-half of the world. 
He reached his high position by a stratagem, and left behind him 
no strong impressions of personal character, yet, the history of his 
life and reign should be read along with those of Cyrus, Caesar, 
Hannibal and Alexander. 

XERXES THE GREAT, King of Persia. By Jacob Ab- 
bott. With 39 illustrations. 

For ages the name of Xerxes has been associated in the minds 
of men with the idea of the highest attainable human magnificence 
and grandeur. He was the sovereign of the ancient Persian em- 
pire at the height of its prosperity and power. The invasion of 
Greece by the Persian hordes, the battle of Thermopylae, the burn- 
ing of Athens, and the defeat of the Persian galleys at Salamis are 
chapters of thrilling interest. 

THE ADVENTURES OF A BROWNIE. By Miss 
Mulock, author of John Halifax, Gentleman, etc. With 
18 illustrations. 

One of the best of Miss Murlock's charming stories for children. 
All the situations are amusing and are sure to please youthful 
readers. 

ALEXANDER THE GREAT, King of Macedon. By 
Jacob Abbott. With 51 illustrations. 

Born heir to the throne of Macedon, a country on the confines 
of Europe and Asia, Alexander crowded into a brief career of 
twelve years a brilliant series of exploits. The readers of to-day 
will find pleasure and profit in the history of Alexander the Great, 
a potentate before whom ambassadors and princes from nearly all 
the nations of the earth bowed in humility. 

PYRRHUS, King of Epirus. By Jacob Abbott. With 45 
illustrations. 

The story of Pyrrhus is one of the ancient narratives which has 
been told and retold for many centuries in the literature, eloquence 
and poetry of all civilized nations. While possessed of extraordi- 
nary ability as a military leader, Pyrrhus actually accomplished 
nothing, but did mischief on a gigantic scale. He was naturally 



ALTEMUS* YOUNG PEOPLE'S LIBRARY. 



of a noble and generous spirit, but only succeded in perpetrating 
crimes against the peace and welfare of mankind. 

HANNIBAL, the Carthaginian. By Jacob Abbott. With 
37 illustrations. 

Hannibal's distinction as a warrior was gained during the des- 
perate contests between Rome and Carthage, known as the Punic 
wars. Entering the scene when his country was engaged in peace- 
ful traffic with the various countries of the known world, he turned 
its energies into military aggression, conquest and war, becoming 
himself one of the greatest military heroes the world has ever 
known. 

MIXED PICKLES. By Mrs. E. M. Field. With 31 illus- 
trations by T. Pym. 

A remarkably entertaining story for young people. The reader 
is introduced to a charming little girl whose mishaps while trying 
to do good are very appropriately termed " Mixed Pickles.' ' 

JULIUS CAESAR, the Roman Conqueror. By Jacob Ab- 
bott. With 44 illustrations. 

The life and actions of Julius Caesar embrace a period in Roman 
history beginning with the civil wars of Marius and Sylla and end- 
ing with the tragic death of Caesar Imperator. The work is an 
accurate historical account of the life and times of one of the great 
military figures in history, in fact, it is history itself, and as such is 
especially commended to the readers of the present generation. 

ALFRED THE GREAT, of England. By Jacob Abbott. 
With 40 illustrations. 

In a certain sense, Alfred appears in history as the founder of 
the British monarchy : his predecessors having governed more like 
savage chieftains than English kings. The work has a special 
value for young readers, for the character of Alfred was that of an 
honest, conscientious and far-seeing statesman. The romantic 
story of Godwin furnishes the concluding chapter of the volume. 

WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR, of England. By Jacob 
Abbott. With 43 illustrations. 

The life and times of William of Normandy have always been a 
fruitful theme for the historian. War and pillage and conquest 
were at least a part of the everyday business cf men in both Eng- 



IO ALTEMUS* YOUNG PEOPLE'S LIBRARY. 

land and France : and the story of William as told by the authoT 
of this volume makes some of the most fascinating pagt^ in his- 
tory. It is especially delightful to young readers 

HERNANDO CORTEZ, the Conqueror of Mexico. By 
Jacob Abbott. With 30 illustrations. 

In this volume the author gives vivid pictures of the wild and 
adventurous career of Cortez and his companions in the conquest 
of Mexico. Many good motives were united with those of ques- 
tionable character, in the prosecution of his enterprise, but in 
those days it was a matter of national ambition to enlarge the 
boundaries of nations and to extend their commerce at any cost. 
The career of Cortez is one of absorbing interest. 

THE LITTLE LAME PRINCE. By Miss Mulock. With 
24 illustrations. 

The author styles it "A Parable for Old and Young." It is in her 
happiest vein and delightfully interesting, especially to youthful 
readers. 

MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS. By Jacob Abbott. With 
45 illustrations. 

The story of Mary Stuart holds a prominent place in the present 
series of historical narrations. It has had many tellings, for the 
melancholy story of the unfortunate queen has always held a high 
place in the estimation of successive generations of readers. Her 
story is full of romance and pathos, and the reader is carried along 
by conflicting emotions of wonder and sympathy. 

QUEEN ELIZABETH, of England. By Jacob Abbott. 
With 49 illustrations. 

In strong contrast to the story of Mary, Queen of Scots, is that 
of Elizabeth, Queen of England. They were cousins, yet im- 
placable foes. Elizabeth's reign was in many ways a glorious one, 
and her successes gained her the applause of the world. The 
stirring tales of Drake, Hawkins and other famous mariners of 
her lime have been incorporated into the story of Elizabeth's life 
and reign. 

KING CHARLES THE FIRST, of England. By Jacob 
Abbott. With 41 illustrations. 

The well-known figures in the stormy reign of Charles T. are 
brought forward in this narrative of his life and times. It is his- 
tory told in the most fascinating manner, and embraces the early 



ALTEMUS' YOUNG PEOPLE'S LIBRARY. 



II 



In^Lp ; th f ec ° urt ° f Jarasl.; druggies between Charles 

and the Parliament; the Civil war; the trial and execution of the 
reader narratlve ls impartial and holds the attention of the 

KIN ?u? HARLES THE SE COND, of England. By Jacob 
Abbott. With 38 illustrations. J 

_ Beginning with his infancy, the life of the » Merry Monarch " 
is related in the author's inimitable style. His reign was signal- 
ized by many disastrous events, besides those that related to his 
personal troubles and embarrassments. There were unfortunate 
wars; naval defeats; dangerous and disgraceful plots and con- 
spiracies. Trobule sat very lightly on the shoulders of Charles II 

of ircourt IndVogr * "* ™ ~* *"*«" * * e S ° de * 

THE SLEEPY KING. By Aubrey Hopwood and Seymour 
Hicks. ,¥ith 77 illustrations by Maud Trelawney 

mett Ch X in u ly \ t01 ? Fa!ry Tale> fu " of deIl 'g ht and en ^rt«n- 

" taUfSSSS." ongmal and strikmg ' adding ^> y 

MARIA ANTOINETTE, Queen of France. By John S C 
Abbott. With 42 illustrations. 7 J 

th7£L traged ,- y u Mar ! a Antoinette is °ne of the most mournful in 
dL> 3 T 6 T ld " H ?]>««tv dazzled ^ whole king 
tT' V Z . Lanlart ! ne - Her 'ofty and unbending sp i rit und = r 
ffff »digmt.es and atrocities, enlists and horns the sympa- 
thies of the readers of to-day, as it has done in the past. 

MADAME ROLAND, A Heroine of the French Revolution. 
By Jacob Abbott. With 42 illustrations. 

The French Revolution developed few, if any characters more 
worthy of notice than that of Madame Roland. 7 ThTab se „« o' 

&;:£; "LnVT b ; inspir \ d her with an insatiate *£?£ 

knowledge, and books became her constant companions in every 
unoccupied hour She fell a martyr to the tyrants of the French 

nlvTrS ^ ^ ^ her a Career ful " °f instruction that 
never fails to impress itself upon the reader. 

JOSEPHINE, Empress of France. By Jacob Abbott. With 
40 illustrations. 



12 ALTEMUS* YOUNG PEOPLE'S LIBRARY. 

Maria Antoinette beheld the dawn of the French Revolution ; 
Madame Roland perished under the lurid glare of its high noon ; 
Josephine saw it fade into darkness. She has been called the 
" Star of Napoleon ; " and it is certain that she added luster to 
his brilliance, and that her persuasive influence was often exerted 
to win a friend or disarm an adversary. The lives of the Empress 
Josephine, of Maria Antoinette, and of Madame Roland are 
especially commended to young lady readers. 

TALES FROM SHAKESPEARE. By Charles and Mary 
Lamb. With 80 illustrations. 

The text is somewhat abridged and edited for yoiin^ people, but 
a clear and definite outline of each play is presented. Such episodes 
or incidental sketches of character as are not absolutely necessary 
to the development of the tales are omitted, while the many moral 
lessons that lie in Shakespeare's plays and make them valuable in 
the training of the young are retained. The b ^ok is winning, help- 
ful and an effectual guide to the " inner shrine" of the great 
dramatist. 

MAKERS OF AMERICA. By Hart well James. With 75 
illustrations. 

This volume contains attractive and suggestive sketches of the 
lives and deeds of men who illustrated some special phase in the 
political, religious or social life of our country, from its settlement 
to the close of the eighteenth century. It affords an opportunity 
for young readers to become easily familiar with these characters 
and their historical relations to the building of our Republic. An 
account of the discovery of America prefaces the work. 

A WONDER BOOK FOR BOYS AND GIRLS. By 
Nathaniel Hawthorne. With 50 illustrations. 

In this volume the genius of Hawthoroe has shaped anew 
wonder tales that have been hallowed by an antiquity of two or 
three thousand years. Seeming " never to have been made " they 
are legitimate subjects for every age to clothe with its own fancy 
as to manners and sentiment, and its own views of morality. The 
volume has a charm fo old and young alike, for the author has 
not thought it necessary to "write downward" in order to meet 
the comprehension of children. 



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